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NATIONAL ACADEMIES AND THE 
PROGRESS OF RESEARCH 



BY 
GEORGE ELLERY HALE 



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NATIONAL ACADEMIES AND THE 
PEOGRESS OF RESEAECH 




BY 



GEORGE ELLEKY HALE 

Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences 



Beprinted from Science, Vol. XXXV f 11. , No. 985, Pages 681-698, 
November U, 1913; Vol. XXXIX, No. 997, Pages 189-200, Februa/ry 
6, 1914; Vol. XL., No. 1043, Pages 907-919, December 25, 1914; 
Vol. XLL, No. 1044, Pages 12-22, Januaru 1, 1915. 



By vnaBtm 

JUL m *yi8 



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PRESS OF 

THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY 

LANCASTER, PA. 



I. THE WOEK OF EUROPEAN 
ACADEMIES 

The Academy of Plato, who bequeathed 
to his followers the walled garden and ap- 
pointments in the place named after the 
hero Hekademus, was at once a school of 
instruction and a society for the develop- 
ment of new knowledge. Here he discussed 
his philosophy with associates and students 
while it was still in the making, thus bring- 
ing them under the stimulating influence of 
fresh thought, developing and expanding 
from day to day. Writing of the Old Acad- 
emy, which included the schools of Plato 
and his immediate successors, Cicero re- 
marks : 

From their writings and systems all liberal 
learning, all history, all elegance of language, may 
be derived; and also, so great is the variety of arts 
of which they were masters, that no one can come 
properly armed for any business of importance 
and credit without being tolerably versed in their 
writings. ... It is from this Academy, as from a 
regular magazine of all the arts^ that mathema- 
1 



ticians, poets^ musicians, aye, and physicians too, 
have proceeded.! 

The Old Academy was thus the prede- 
cessor of our modern academies of science 
and of our universities as well. Its world- 
wide influence, while of course primarily 
due to the brilliant thinkers of the day, may 
certainly be ascribed in part to the fact that 
its instruction was given in an atmosphere 
charged with the stimulus of original 
thought and constantly broadening ideas. 
The great success of the German univer- 
sities, and the outflow from them of the 
spirit of research into every phase of Ger- 
man life and thought, is undoubtedly due 
in the largest measure to the application of 
this principle. Fortunately for the intel- 
lectual advancement of the United States, 
the recognition of its importance has al- 
ready permeated most of our advanced 
schools, and is rapidly gaining acceptance 
in the minds of their governing boards of 
trustees. 

Aristotle, called by Plato ''the mind of 
my school," came from a family of physi- 
cians, and thus inherited a taste for experi- 

1 Cicero, ' '■ De Finibus, ' ' Book 5, Yonge 's trans. 
2 



mental knowledge. To him we owe the 
beginnings of exact science and the organi- 
zation of research on a large scale. Thanks 
to his influence with his pupil Alexander 
the Great, he was able to command the 
great sum of eight hundred talents for the 
purchase of books and for other expenses 
involved in the preparation of his treatise 
on zoology. More than this, a thousand men 
throughout Asia and Greece studied under 
his direction the life and habits of birds and 
beasts, fishes and insects.^ The territories 
conquered by Alexander were carefully 
surveyed, by measuring the position of 
terrestrial objects with respect to stars.^ 
Although Aristotle maintained the fixity of 
the earth, and supposed comets and the 
Milky Way to be in its higher atmosphere, 

2 Wheeler, '' Alexander the Great,'' p. 37. The 
strict accuracy of these assertions, which were 
made by several classical authors, is questioned by 
Grote and also by Humboldt, who nevertheless 
concede, that Aristotle received from both Philip 
and Alexander the most liberal support in pro- 
curing zoological material from Grecian territories 
and in the collection of books. '' Cosmos," Sa- 
bine's trans., Vol. II., p. 158. 

3 Bossut, ' ' Histoire des Mathematiques, ' ' Vol. 
1, p. 116. 

3 



his reasoning in many astronomical prob- 
lems was sound, as when he concluded that 
the earth must be spherical because its 
shadow on the eclipsed moon is always 
curved.* Thus his studies of natural science 
foreshadowed the work of the present-day 
investigator and led to the most far-reach- 
ing results. 

After his time a gradual division of labor 
ultimately separated investigations in natu- 
ral science from the speculations of the 
philosophers. In Sicily, Egypt and the 
islands of the Mediterranean true scientific 
research, in the strictly modern sense, devel- 
oped with remarkable rapidity, while in the 
old Lyceum at Athens the philosophy of 
reasoning and dialectics, caring little for 
physical causes, was devoted exclusively to 
the soul. 

A deep-seated belief that the senses are 
deceptive, and the natural impatience of the 
Greeks, inclining them toward reasoning 
and speculation rather than the slow and 
laborious processes of observation and ex- 
periment, had first to be overcome.^ But in 

^Ilid,, p. 117. 

5 Weber, '^History of Philosophy,^' Thilly's 
trans., p. 133 et seq. 

4 



the third century B.C. the greatest geometer 
of antiquity, Archimedes, taught at Syra- 
cuse a system of astronomy closely resem- 
bling that of Copernicus, founded the 
science of mechanics in his treatise ^'De 
^.quiponderantibus, " and devised some of 
the fundamental experimental methods of 
modern physics. At the same period Aris- 
tarchus of Samos made a first determination 
of the distance of the sun from the earth 
and held that *Hhe center of the universe 
was occupied by the sun, which was im- 
movable, like other stars, while the earth 
revolved around it."^ This view was also 
taught by Seleucus the Babylonian, but it 
was rejected by Ptolemy, the most cele- 
brated astronomer of his day. 

THE MUSEUM OF ALEXANDRIA 

Of all the ancient prototypes of the 
modern academy, the great Museum of 
Alexandria holds the first place. Founded 
by Ptolemy Soter, whose preference would 
have confined its work to the moral and 
political sciences, its scope soon expanded 
under the influence of Ptolemy Phila- 

6 See Humboldt, *' Cosmos,^' Vol. II., p. 309, and 
notes, p. cix. 

5 



delphus and the pressure of circumstances, 
until it embraced the whole field of knowl- 
edgeJ Here almost all of the important 
results of Greek science were obtained in a 
period covering nine centuries. The 
museum established by Ptolemy was an 
extensive palace, housing the brilliant com- 
pany of scholars and investigators gathered 
together from all parts of Greece. As a 
state institution, endowed with special 
revenues, it was under the direction of the 
government, which appointed its head. 
This, in accordance with the traditions of 
the day, was a priest, whose ecclesiastical 
office, and even the name of the museum 
itself, gave a kind of religious character to 
the institution,^ though it subsequently be- 
came purely secular. 

Ptolemy Philadelphus collected strange 
animals from many lands, and sent Diony- 
sius on exploring expeditions to the most 
remote regions.® But while the investi- 
gators of the museum doubtless profited by 
these collections and explorations for their 

7 Matter, **ffistoire de I'Eeole d 'Alexandrie, " 
2d ed.. Vol. II., Introduction, p. v. 

8 Op. dt., Vol. I., pp. 87 and 96. 
^lUd., p. 158. 

6 



studies in natural history and geography, 
Matter finds no evidence that at this period 
the museum possessed either a distinct 
natural history collection or a zoological 
park/^ though the study of medicine was 
encouraged, and a great art collection was 
developed. 

The rising tide of science soon brought 
all the material requisites of research, sup- 
plementing the great library of 700,000 
volumes by the instruments, laboratories 
and collections demanded by the astron- 
omer, the physicist and the student of 
biology. A botanical garden, a zoological 
menagerie, an anatomical laboratory and 
an astronomical observatory in the Square 
Porch, provided by Ptolemy Euergetes 
with an equinoctial and a solstitial armil- 
lary, stone quadrants, astrolabes and other 
instruments, illustrate the nature of the 
extensive equipment provided. The work 
of the Alexandrian school thus continued 
to grow, until it embraced all of natural 
and physical science, medicine, mathe- 
matics, astronomy and geography, history, 
philosophy, religion, morals and politics. 
It is significant that an institution which in 

loiMd., p. 159. 

7 



many respects would be regarded as a 
model to be striven for to-day, should have 
developed at so early a period in the history 
of civilization.^^ 

To the Alexandrian school we owe the 
"Geometry" of Euclid, and his treatises 
on ''Harmony," ''Optics" and "Catop- 
trics " ; the hydraulic screw and some of the 
mathematical and physical discoveries of 
Archimedes of Syracuse, who spent part 
of his time in Egypt; the mathematical, 
astronomical, geographical and historical 
investigations of Eratosthenes, who first 
endeavored to determine the circumference 
of the earth by measuring the difference of 
latitude and the distance between Alexan- 
dria and Syene, and wrote on such subjects 
as the geological submersion of lands, the 
elevation of ancient sea-beds, and the 
origin of the Dardanelles and the Straits of 
Gibraltar; the "Conic Sections" of Apol- 
lonius; the mathematical and astronomical 
researches of Hipparchus, whose discovery 
of the precession of the equinoxes was 
L^^j^Jl^ I -n Q based on observations made 4¥eHw4ndredr 

years previously by Timochares at Alexan- 

11 Draper, *' Intellectual Development of Eu- 
rope,'' Vol. I., p. 188. 

8 



1 



dria ; and the great ' ' Syntaxis ' ' of Ptolemy, 
translated as the "Almagest" by the 
Arabians, which stood as a commanding 
authority in Europe for nearly fifteen hun- 
dred years. Founded on the geocentric 
hypothesis, the "Almagest" is nevertheless 
replete with astronomical methods and 
observations of the widest range and signifi- 
cance, and includes Ptolemy's discovery of 
the lunar evection, a rough determination 
of the distance of the earth from the sun, a 
masterly discussion of the motions of the 
planets, and a catalogue of 1,022 stars. 
These remarkable advances, which include 
only a fraction of the enormous scientific 
product of the Alexandrian school, were 
supplemented by equally striking contribu- 
tions to literature and art. Philology, criti- 
cism and the history of literature became 
sciences, while the coming together of Budd- 
hists, Jews, Greeks and Egyptians, with 
the most diverse beliefs, led to the develop- 
ment of comparative theology. Of the 
literary works of the Alexandrian school, 
the Septuagint and the poems of Theocritus 
are perhaps the most widely known.^^ 

12 Eeeent works on Greek science include those 
of Tannerjj Duhem, Lones and Heath. 
9 



The rising power of Rome, which finally- 
made of Alexandria a mere provincial 
town, was coincident with the decline of 
Greek intellectual life. In this paper only 
the more significant epochs in the develop- 
ment of academies can be mentioned, and 
we must pass over the work of the imme- 
diate successors of the Alexandrian school 
in Rome and Byzantium, and the achieve- 
ments of Arabian science in Africa, Spain 
and Persia. In 1453, by the fall of Con- 
stantinople, where Greek scholars had pre- 
served, in antiquated, and pedantic form, 
the literary and philosophical traditions of 
the Alexandrian age, Italy was once more 
raised to its old position of '* Magna 
Grsecia." Some years earlier the scholar 
and ambassador Pletho, aided by Cosimo 
de Medici, had established a Platonic acad- 
emy in Florence. Under this stimulus, and 
the influence of the Greek refugees, philos- 
ophy became popular, and Greek was 
widely studied. The voyages of Columbus, 
Da Gama and Magellan, and the astro- 
nomical achievements of Tycho Brahe, 
Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo reawak- 
ened the appreciation of scientific research 
and its possibilities. Leonardo da Vinci 
10 



continued the work of Archimedes and the 
Alexandrian school in optics, mechanics 
and other branches of physics, Vesalins 
established human anatomy on a firm 
foundation, and Harvey proved the theory 
of the circulation of the blood. It is not 
surprising that under such conditions acad- 
emies of literature and science should 
multiply in Europe. 

ITALIAN ACADEMIES 

Among the earliest Italian academies 
were the academy of history, philology and 
archeology, founded in Rome by Pomponio 
Leto in 1457; the Accademia di S. Luca, 
devoted to the fine arts, established in 1577 ; 
and the Accademia della Crusca, founded 
in 1582, which has published several edi- 
tions of its great Italian dictionary.^^ In 
addition to these organizations seriously 
devoted to the encouragement of literature 
and the arts, a host of imitations sprang up 
all over Italy during the sixteenth century. 
Perhaps the gaiety of their proceedings was 
considered to find sufficient warrant in the 

13 Carutti, * ' Breve storia dell 'Accademia dei 
Lincei,'' p. 157. 

11 



splendid suppers offered to the academy of 
Pomponio by the wealthy German Goritz, 
regarding which Ginguene^* quotes the 
remarks of an earlier authority: 

Ainsi, dit avec un juste sentiment de regret, le 
bon Tiraboschi, ainsi parmi les verres et les jeux 
d 'esprit, on cultivait joyeusement les lettres, et 
les plaisirs memes servaient h en encourager et ^ 
en ranimer 1 'etude. 

Leonardo da Vinci founded and directed 
the first scientific and experimental acad- 
emy in Italy.^^ Another early academy de- 
voted to the pursuit of science was the 
Academia Secretorum Naturae of Naples, 
which dates from 1560. 

Of special interest to the modem inves- 
tigator is the Accademia del Cimento, which 
possessed a large collection of physical in- 
struments, many of which are now pre- 
served in the Galileo Museum at Florence. 
The ''Saggi di Naturali Esperienze" made 
in the laboratories of this institution is an 
admirably illustrated account of early 
academic activities. The experiments, 

1* Ginguene, ' ' Histoire literaire d 'Italie, ' ' Vol. 
7, p. 353. 

15 Librj 
en Italie," Vol. 3, p. 30. 
12 



which are described in great detail, with 
the aid of excellent woodcuts of instru- 
ments, are in some cases attributed to 
Galileo, Torricelli and other investigators, 
and in other cases are said to have been 
first performed in France. They include a 
wide variety of subjects, such as the effects 
of artificial freezing on various waters, 
wines, acids and oils, the compression of 
liquids, various phenomena in a vacuum, 
the electrical properties of amber, and the 
motion of projectiles. 

This important volume was published in 
1666, ten years after the establishment of 
the Academy, which lasted only during 
this period. The one great Italian acad- 
emy of science which still survives is the 
Accademia dei Lincei, founded by Federico 
Cesi in 1603. His vast plans of organiza- 
tion for the Academy, resembling those of 
the religious and military orders of the day, 
are described in an unpublished work en- 
titled the **Linceografo." The Academy 
was to comprise establishments in the four 
quarters of the world, where the members 
would lead a common life in the midst of 
libraries, museums, observatories, labora- 
tories and botanic gardens, provided with 
13 



every requisite nieans of research, and in 
constant communication with the other con- 
stituent bodies of the organization. The 
name Lincei, or Lynx-eyed, was taken in 
recognition of the reputation of the lynx 
for extreme penetration of vision, "vedendo 
non solo quello che e di fuori, ma anche cid 
eke dentro si asconde."'^^ 

After a stormy period of youth, during 
which Cesi and his three fellow organizers 
underwent many vicissitudes, the Academy 
was vigorously revived in 1609. Two years 
later, to its lasting renown, it was joined 
by Galileo, whose earliest telescopic dis- 
coveries had just been made. Under this 
stimulus, and aided by the widespread 
interest in Galileo's work, the Academy 
now advanced rapidly. While devoting 
special attention to the mathematical and 
physical sciences, it did not neglect the 
cultivation of literature, counting among 
its members historians, poets, antiquarians 
and philologists. Ite cosmopolitan char- 
acter is indicated by the diverse nationality 
of its membership, which was drawn from 
many of the nations of Europe. An Eng- 

16 Camtti, ' ' Breve storia dell 'Accademia dei 
Lincei,'' p. 8. 

14 



lish member of this period was Francis 
Bacon.^^ 

In November, 1612, Galileo communi- 
cated his discovery and observations of sun- 
spots, which were published by the Acad- 
emy under the title **Istoria e Dimostra- 
zioni intorno alle Macchie Solari." The 
manuscript of this epoch-making discovery 
is still preserved by the Academy. This 
was followed in 1622 by his * ' Saggiatore, " 
published in great haste, to avoid interfer- 
ence from the Church. Two years later 
he demonstrated at Eome the use of the 
microscope, so named by Fabri, a member 
of the Lincei. In 1629 Galileo completed 
his dialogue on "Due Massimi Sistemi del 
Mondo, ' ' and proposed to go to Eome to see 
it through the press.^^ 

Limitations of space forbid mention of 
the memorable events of this time, during 
which the Academy supported Galileo in 
his difficulties with the Inquisition, and 
accepted the resignation of Valerio, who 
had attacked his doctrines. It was a stir- 
ring period,, full of new and vigorous 
thought, which sharply conflicted with the 

17 Carutti, op. cit., p. 26. 

18 Ihid., p. 28. 

15 



traditions of a vanishing age. Led by such 
men as Cesi, Porta, Galileo and Colonna, 
the Lincei played a prominent part in the 
development of the scientific advance of 
Italy and in the cultivation of the growing 
love of truth which spread throughout the 
civilized world. But in 1830 the Academy 
came to a sudden end, attributed by Carutti 
to the withdrawal of the patronage of 
Cardinal Barberini.^^ 

Since that date it has seen several re- 
vivals, which are described in the history 
from which the present notice is derived. 
Eeconstituted under Victor Emmanuel II. 
in 1875 as the Reale Accademia dei Lincei, 
it now flourishes as the national academy 
of Italy. The class of physical, mathe- 
matical and natural sciences has 55 mem- 
bers, 55 national correspondents, and 110 
foreign members. The class of moral, his- 
torical and philological sciences has 45 
members, 45 national correspondents and 
45 foreign members. The president belongs 
to one class, the vice-president to the other, 
and each has a secretary and an assistant 
secretary.^** 

19 Op. cit., p. 97. 

20 See revised statutes, Carutti, op. cit., p. 245. 

16 



The home of the Lincei in the Palazzo 
Corsini is admirably adapted for the pur- 
poses of an academy. The collections in- 
clude an extensive library, rich in rare 
books and manuscripts, and a large gallery 
of paintings, most of which is open to the 
public. The annual meeting, held in the 
great hall of the palace, is a very impressive 
function, attended by the King and Queen 
and other members of the royal family, 
whose keen and intelligent interest in the 
work of the Academy is a powerful incen- 
tive to increased effort and broader useful- 
ness. 

THE PARIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 

A brilliant and inspiring picture of the 
Paris Academy of Sciences at the zenith of 
its development and fame may be found in 
the opening chapter of Merz 's * ' History of 
European Thought." This Academy, or- 
ganized through the efforts of the far-seeing 
statesman Colbert at the period when New- 
ton was engaged in the composition of his 
'*Principia," has probably exerted a more 
favorable influence on the progress of sci- 
ence than any other similar institution in 
Europe. Enjoying both the moral and 
17 



financial support of the French govern- 
ment, and permeated by an enthusiasm for 
scientific research which led its members 
to develop the most extensive cooperative 
projects, it offers a pattern which other 
academies may well seek to imitate. Great 
as it remains to-day, the period in its his- 
tory which deserves our most careful con- 
sideration is that inspiring epoch, at the end 
of the eighteenth century, when France 
was everywhere recognized as the leader of 
the scientific world. 

The academicians named by Colbert held 
their first informal meeting in the library 
of the Hotel Colbert in June, 1666. In the 
words of Fontenelle, heaven seemed to 
favor the rising company, which was for- 
tunately able to observe two eclipses 
within the short interval of fifteen days. 
The second of these was observed with the 
aid of an instrument devised by Huygens 
(who was one of the members), and per- 
fected later by Auzout and Picart — the 
well-known micrometer of the astronomer. 

The original group, composed wholly of 
mathematicians and astronomers, was soon 
enlarged to sixteen, through the addition 
of Claude Perrault, Mariotte and other 

18 



well-known chemists, physicians and anato- 
mists. Laboratories and collections were 
established in the Bibliotheque du Roi, and 
the astronomical instruments were mounted 
in the garden, awaiting the completion of 
the great observatory designed by Perrault, 
where some of the meetings were subse- 
quently held. Picart undertook the meas- 
urement of an arc of the meridian which, 
when completed by Cassini, removed the 
last doubt of Newton as to the theory of 
gravitation. He was also sent to Denmark 
to determine the position of the ancient 
observatory of Tycho Brahe. Geographical 
maps were corrected and the latitudes and 
longitudes of a great number of points were 
measured. Richer went to Cayenne to 
determine the length of the pendulum and 
to make other observations. In short, the 
greatest activity reigned under the personal 
stimulus of Colbert, whose correspondence 
shows how large an amount of time he de- 
voted to the interests of the Academy. 
Well-known names were added to the list 
of members, including those of Roemer, 
who determined the velocity of light from 
the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites; Cassini, 
the first of a remarkable lineage of astron- 

19 



omers; the anatomist du Vemey; and the 
great Leibnitz. 

Under Louvois, the successor of Colbert, 
the Academy languished, but Bignon's plan 
of reorganization, adopted in 1699, inaugu- 
rated a new period of progress. The Acad- 
emy was provided with quarters in the 
Louvre, where it remained until Napoleon 
assigned to the Institute the former College 
Mazarin, which it still occupies. Its unpub- 
lished memoirs were promptly printed, and 
were so favorably received by the public 
that as many as three editions were some- 
times demanded. At this period a class of 
**associes libres" was established, to which 
such men as Turgot, the engineers Perronet 
and Belidor and Bougainville the explorer 
have since belonged. 

During the eighteenth century the Acad- 
emy attained a height only surpassed dur- 
ing the great epoch following the Revolu- 
tion. Among the important events of this 
century were the mathematical researches 
of Clairaut and d'Alembert; the expedi- 
tions of Clairaut and Maupertuis to Lap- 
land and of Godin, Bouguer and La Con- 
damine to Peru, for the measurement of 
arcs of the meridian; the similar under- 



taking of La Caille at the Cape, where he 
also determined the lunar parallax in co- 
operation with astronomers in the northern 
hemisphere and measured the positions of 
ten thousand stars ; and the observations of 
the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769 by 
Pingre at Rodrigues' Island, LeGentil in 
India, and Chappe in Siberia and Cali- 
fornia. The Cassinis continued their exten- 
sive astronomical and geodetic investiga- 
tions in l^tance, where the activity of 
astronomical research is illustrated by the 
fact that when Bernouilli came to Paris in 
1760 he found, in addition to the original, 
observatory, eight or ten other observatories 
engaged in investigation under the direc- 
tion of academicians. Lalande, known as 
a severe critic, wrote in 1766: 

The collection of Memoirs of tlie Academy of 
Sciences is the richest storehouse of astronomical 
knowledge that we possess. 

But the work of the Academy was by no 
means confined to astronomy and its sister 
sciences. Through the investigations of its 
chemists, the way was prepared for the 
creation of modern chemistry by Lavoisier. 
Reaumur, Buffon and their contemporaries 
were making extensive contributions to 
21 



natural history, while Haiiy was laying the 
foundations of mineralogy. At the same 
time Geoffroy and the three Jussieus shared 
with Linnaeus the honor of creating the 
science of botany. 

Under such conditions it is not surpris- 
ing that the nation should turn to the Acad- 
emy for assistance and guidance in many 
of its enterprises. Ministers, parliaments, 
administrators and state assemblies often 
sought its aid and accepted its decisions. 
So commanding was its position that when 
all the academies were suppressed under the 
Revolution, it was stipulated that the Acad- 
emy of Sciences should provisionally con- 
tinue its functions and receive its annual 
revenues from the state. 

As there are still those who see in a 
national academy a menace to true democ- 
racy, and who criticize our own National 
Academy on this score, the attitude of the 
revolutionists toward the Paris Academy is 
not without interest. In the report on 
public instruction made by Talleyrand to 
the National Assembly in 1791, on behalf 
of the committee, it was proposed to estab- 
lish a National Institute to continue and 
extend the functions of the various exist- 
22 



ing academies.^^ In a later report on behalf 
of the Committee on Public Instruction, 
Condorcet showed that the only satisfactory- 
method of determining the membership of 
such an academy is to leave the elections to 
the members themselves.^^ Article 298 of 
the Constitution, adopted August 22, 1795, 
declares : 

n y a pour toute la Eepublique un Institut na- 
tional charge de recueillir les decouvertes, de per- 
feetionner les arts et les seiences.23 

This differed from the former group of 
academies mainly in the unity of the aca- 
demic body, which covered the whole range 
of knowledge (though the Academic Fran- 
Qaise was not represented) , and the equality 
in number and privilege of the members 
resident in Paris and the non-resident 
members of the provinces.^* Far from 
losing its prestige through the effects of the 
Revolution, the Academy of Sciences rose 
to its greatest success in the years foUow- 

21 Hippeau, * ' L 'instruction publique en France 
pendant la revolution," Vol. I., p. 102. 
z^IUd., p. 327. 

23 Simon, * ' Une Academie sous le Directoire, ' ' 
p. 39. 

24 Simon, op. cit., pp. 44, 46, 50. 

23 



ing the Terror, and formed, with its sister 
academies, the chief connecting link be- 
tween the modern democracy and the old 
regime.^^ 

The National Institute, as thus consti- 
tuted, lasted until 1803, when Napoleon 
Bonaparte again reorganized it. The mem- 
bers of the first class (Academy of Sci- 
ences) were grouped in two divisions, con- 
taining eleven sections in all. The two 
secretaries, no longer connected with any 
section, were made permanent. This or- 
ganization, with no essential change, still 
remains in force. The law of 1803 sup- 
pressed the national associates, replacing 
them in the case of the Academy of Sci- 
ences by 100 correspondents (national and 
foreign), increased to 116 in 1899. 

It is int-eresting to remember that Napo- 
leon took an active part in the Academy of 
Sciences, of which he was elected a member 
in 1797. During the expedition to Egypt 
he invariably signed himself *'Le membra 
de rinstitut, general en chef."^^ His 
appreciation of the importance of scientific 

25 Maury, ' ' L 'aneienne Academie des Sciences/' 
p. 1. 

26 Simon, op. cit., p. 40. 

24 



research is amply illustrated by the dis- 
tinguished company of investigators which 
he took with him on this expedition, where 
he organized the Institute of Egypt in 
Cairo, and proposed to establish an astro- 
nomical observatory.^'' The extensive and 
superbly illustrated report of his investi- 
gators on the antiquities of Egypt was the 
first great step in Egyptian archeology, 
leading to the successful labors of Champol- 
lion, Mariette and Maspero, and the domi- 
nance of the French school in Egypt even 
under British control. 

In the great days of the First Empire 
began the brilliant period in the history of 
the Academy which Merz so justly empha- 
sizes. With such members as Lagrange, 
Laplace, Legendre and Cauchy in mathe- 
matics; Messier, Arago, Lalande and Del- 
ambre in astronomy; Biot, Ampere, 
Fourier, Fresnel, Becquerel and Regnault 
in physics ; BerthoUet, Gay-Lussac, Dulong, 
Dumas and Chevreul in chemistry ; Cuvier, 
de Jussieu, Lamarck and Geoffroy Saint- 
Hilaire in biology, and with others equally 
celebrated in other fields, it is not sur- 
prising that the Academy commanded the 

27 ' ' M^moires sur I'Egypte," Paris, An VIII. 
25 



respect and the admiration of the civilized 
world. 

Some of the elements which have entered 
into the success of the Paris Academy are 
not difficult to recognize: the sympathy 
and support of such statesmen as Colbert 
and Napoleon, who appreciated the funda- 
mental importance of science to the nation, 
as Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies 
had done before them; the cooperative 
spirit which led the members to work to- 
gether for a common cause; the perfection 
in the hands of the academicians of the 
powerful mathematical methods which con- 
tributed so largely to the application and 
widespread usefulness of Newton's dis- 
coveries; and the popularization of science 
and the diffusion of the scientific spirit 
through the brilliant writings of Cuvier, 
Laplace, Buffon, Fontenelle and many 
others. Far from disdaining the transla- 
tion of technical papers into attractive 
literature, these great leaders set an exam- 
ple which was followed hardly less effec- 
tively, though in a different manner, by 
Davy and Faraday at the Royal Institu- 
tion. Cuvier, above all others, represented 
the academic system at its best. In his 

26 



eloquent Eloges on the most eminent scien- 
tific men of the day, he paints a picture of 
scientific investigation and progress with 
the hand of a practised artist. The wide 
field of science, and the rich results flowing 
from the labors of investigators skilled in 
many departments of knowledge, hatrsenever 
been more admirably depicted than in the 
discourses of this distinguished perpetual 
secretary.^^ 

GERMAN ACADEMIES 

In Germany, the division of the empire 
into many kingdoms, preventing the cen- 
tralization which has been so important a 
factor in France and England, and the pre- 
vailing influence of the universities as re- 
search laboratories, where every teacher is 
not only a scholar but a productive inves- 
tigator, have stood in the way of the devel- 
opment of a single dominant national insti- 

28 For the data used in this account of the 
Paris Academy I am largely indebted to the 
work of Maury, Simon, Merz and Hippeau, al- 
ready cited, and especially to the article by Dar- 
boux in "L'Institut de France," Vol. 2 (Paris, 
1907). See also the useful series of articles by 
Dr. E. F. Williams on the Paris, Berlin and 
Vienna Academies in the Popular Science Monthly, 
27 



tution like the Paris Academy of Sciences. 
During the eighteenth century the great 
men of science, including Leibnitz, Euler, 
Haller, Tobias Mayer, Lambert, Olbers and 
Alexander von Humboldt, were widely 
scattered, and in most cases had little to do 
with the universities, although these were 
already distinguished for classical scholar- 
ship. But by the publication of his '*Dis- 
quisitiones Arithmeticae, " and the inven- 
tion of his improved method of calculating 
planetary orbits. Gauss, of the University 
of Gottingen, placed himself on a level 
with the great French mathematicians and 
inaugurated a new era in German science. 
By the use of this method, von Zach and 
Olbers were enabled to recover the first of 
the minor planets, Ceres, which had been 
lost on its approach to the sun. Gauss also 
introduced exact science into the university 
curriculum, but it was through the work of 
Jacobi that the great school of German 
mathematicians was set on foot a quarter 
of a century later. The contemporary 
establishment of chemical laboratories by 
the universities, and the widespread influ- 
ence of Liebig, Mitscherlich and Wohler in 
chemistry, and of Schleiden and Schwann 
28 



in botany and zoology, determined for all 
time the place of the German university in 
science. Schleiden's cell theory of plant 
structure and growth was the source of a 
long series of discoveries, which established 
the supremacy of Germany in physiology.^^ 

In spite of the unfavorable conditions 
already mentioned, four great academies 
have nevertheless arisen in Germany, those 
of Berlin, Munich, Leipzig and Gottingen. 
Among these, partly because of the leader- 
ship of Prussia in the German empire and 
partly from other causes, the Berlin Acad- 
emy stands foremost. Founded in 1700 as 
the Societas Begia Scientiarum, through 
the influence of Leibnitz and in accordance 
with his plans, it has contributed in the 
highest degree to the advancement of Ger- 
man scholarship. Its present designation 
as *'Akademie der Wissenschaften" indi- 
cates the broad scope of its activities. The 
fifty regular members are divided into two 
classes, each of which consists of two sec- 
tions, presided over by a permanent secre- 
tary. The first class comprises the sections 
of physics and mathematics, the second 

29 See Merz's *' History of European Thought,'' 
Vol. 1, Chap. 2. 

29 



those of philosophy and history. The secre- 
taries preside in turn at the meetings <?f the 
separate classes, and at the general meet- 
ings, which are held monthly. Each mem- 
ber receives an annual stipend of 900 
marks, while the secretaries are paid larger 
salaries. There are also two positions 
carrying salaries of 12,000 marks each, 
filled by the astronomer and the chemist of 
the Academy, and a dozen similar pensions 
which may be distributed at discretion. 

In the early days of its history, the 
Berlin Academy devoted most of its 
resources to the establishment and main- 
tenance of research laboratories and mu- 
seums. Its headquarters were originally 
in the Berlin Observatory, which was con- 
ducted under the direction of the Academy, 
and it also acquired anatomical and zoolog- 
ical collections, a mineralogical museum, and 
a botanical garden. Furthermore, the chem- 
ist of the Academy conducted his researches 
in a chemical laboratory provided for the 
purpose.^^ In 1809, when the University of 
Berlin was established to compensate for 
the loss of Halle by the treaty of Tilsit, 

30 See Hamack 's great ' ' Geschiclite der Ber- 
liner Akademie der Wissenscliaf ten. ' ' 
30 



these functions of the Academy were trans- 
ferred to the University and have since re- 
mained under its direction. In an inter- 
esting and important manuscript by Wil- 
helm von Humboldt, entitled ''Ueber die 
innere und aussere Organization der wissen- 
schaftlichen hoheren Anstalten in Berlin/' 
his ideas on the relationship between the 
Academy and the newly organized Univer- 
sity are fully set forth. Schleiermacher had 
defined the university as a group of stu- 
dents, the academy as a group of investi- 
gators: the former concerned with the 
diffusion of knowledge, and the stimulation 
of scientific research, the latter with the 
development of scientific problems them- 
selves. Humboldt believed the main dis- 
tinction between the two bodies to lie in 
their form and their relationships rather 
than in their work. The university always 
remains in close relationship with practical 
life and the necessities of the state, since it 
is engaged in the practical task of educating 
the youth of the nation, while the academy 
is concerned solely with knowledge. 

When only the function of teaching and dis- 
seminating knowledge is assigned to the univer- 
31 



sity and its promotion to tlie academy, injustice 
is manifestly done tlie former.^i 

Whereas the university teachers are 
under common bonds only in the matter of 
discipline, and are quite independent of 
one another in other respects, the academy 
is a society each member of which must 
submit his work to the judgment of all. 
Hence, he insists, the idea of an academy 
as the highest and ultimate freehold of 
knowledge, and as a corporation which is 
more independent than any other of the 
state, must be maintained. 

In Humboldt's view, a close interchange 
of activities between academy and univer- 
sity should be provided for. Each aca- 
demican must have the right to lecture at 
the university without going through the 
ordinary preliminaries, and without in- 
volving any direct connection with it. 
Many scholars should be both university 
professors and academicians, but both in- 
stitutions should have other members who 
belong to it alone. The academy must be 
free to choose its own members, subject 
only to the approval of the government, 

31 Paulsen, ' ' The German Universities, ' ' trans, 
by Thilly and Elwang, p. 53. 
32 



while professors in the university should 
be appointed exclusively by the state.^^ 

In spite of the transfer of some of its 
principal departments to the University of 
Berlin, the Berlin Academy has by no 
means relinquished its important object of 
carrying on large research projects. As al- 
ready stated, it still has an endowed pro- 
fessorship of chemistry, recently held by 
van 't Hoff , and now by Fischer, and a pro- 
fessorship of astronomy, held by Auwers. 
Both of these investigators pursue their re- 
searches under the auspices of the Acad- 
emy. The great work upon which Professor 
Auwers is engaged is characteristic of 
many of the larger undertakings of the 
German academies, to which they devote 
nearly half of their available funds. This 
is the ''Geschichte des Fixsternhimmels, " 
an immense catalogue of star positions based 
upon the observations of many astrono- 
mers. Similar undertakings by the Berlin 
Academy in other fields are the *' Corpus 
inscriptorum gr^carum" and the *' Corpus 
inscriptorum latinarum." The prepara- 
tion of a great edition of Aristotle's works, 

32Lenz, * ' GescMchte der Universitat Berlin,'* 
Bd. I., pp. 186-188. 

33 



begun by the Berlin Academy in 1821 and 
finished in 1909, is cited by Diels as a most 
striking illustration of the advantage of 
academic continuity, with which no individ- 
ual can hope to compete.^^ For such an 
undertaking, which we have come to regard 
as characteristically German, an organ- 
ized body like an academy of sciences pos- 
sesses, not merely the advantage of con- 
tinuity, but that which results from the 
combined experience and the wide range 
of vision brought to bear through the co- 
operation of many eminent authorities. An 
academy may also command far more ex- 
tensive material than would fall within 
the reach of the individual worker. This 
phase of academic activity, practised 
in different forms in the Museum of Alex- 
andria and, in the preparation of national 
dictionaries, by the Academic Francaise 
and the Accademia della Crusca, is also il- 
lustrated in England by the Royal Society 's 
** Catalogue of Scientific Papers." Our 
own National Academy has yet to take any 
steps in this direction. 

33 Diels, ''Die organisation der Wissenschaf t, ' ' 
in ''Die Allegemeinen Grimdlagen der Kultur der 
Gegenwart," 2d ed., p. 667. 
34 



The importance attached to this form 
of academic work in Berlin is clearly 
illustrated in the plans of the new acad- 
emy building, for a set of which I am 
indebted to the kindness of Professor Diels. 
This building, which is being constructed 
in connection with the new Royal Library, 
is probably more perfectly adapted for aca- 
demic purposes than any other building 
now in use, as it was especially designed 
for the work to be carried on in it.^* 
The plans show that one room each is 
to be devoted to the Corpus medicorum 
Grcecorum, the Acta Borussia, and the 
Plant Kingdom, three rooms to the Corpus 
inscriptorum Latinarum, four to the Orien- 
tal Commission, four to the Egyptian Dic- 
tionary, eleven to the Inscriptiones Grcecce, 
eleven to the German Commission, two to 
the edition of Leibnitz's collected works, 
seven to the History of the Fixed Stars. 
In addition to all of these rooms for spe- 
cial research, there are the great *'Fest 
Saal," separate meeting rooms for the two 
classes of the Academy-, a general meeting 

34 Most of tte European academies are housed 
in palaces or similar buildings formerly used for 
other purposes. 

35 



room for both classes together, a large ante- 
room, a demonstration room, seven editorial 
rooms, fonr secretaries' offices, offices for 
the registrar, the recorder and the chan- 
cellor, a reading-room and large library 
and stack room, a correspondence room, an 
instrument room, a photographic labora- 
tory, and various other offices, kitchens, 
servants' rooms, etc. 

It is a significant fact that Merz, after 
devoting an eloquent chapter to the evolu- 
tion of science in France under the stimu- 
lus of the Paris Academy, barely mentions 
the German academies when discussing the 
progress of science in that country. The 
reason, as we have already seen, lies in the 
predominating influence of the universities 
in the development of German scientific 
life and thought. With every teacher an 
investigator, every university a laboratory 
of research, and with the powerful aid of 
the state encouraging in every possible way 
the prosecution of investigation no less 
than the instruction of students, it is easy 
to see how the universities obtained their 
ascendancy in the field of science, or rather 
in the broad field of Wissenschaft, for in 



Germany the same spirit of research has 
permeated every department of knowledge. 
The wide distribution of the universities 
and their considerable number, together 
with the free interchange of professors and 
students, have worked against centraliza- 
tion, and have served to create a cosmopoli- 
tan spirit in striking contrast with that 
which obtains in France. One can hardly 
fail to believe that no single influence could 
be more effective than the universities for 
the development of the latent capacity of a 
nation for scientific research. But while 
the German academies have doubtless suf- 
fered by contrast with the universities, a 
survey of the intellectual progress of Ger- 
many should by no means overlook the in- 
valuable services the academies have rend- 
ered. 

It would seem, however, that these serv- 
ices might have been even greater if a larger 
number of the scientific men of the na- 
tion could have taken an active part in the 
work of the academies. As at present con- 
stituted, the membership of these bodies is 
extremely limited, and each member must 
reside within a very short distance of the 
37 



/ 



seat of the academy, so that he may be able 
to attend the meetings regularly. These 
limitations, though not without compensa- 
ting advantages, are in striking contrast 
with the wider membership and freer inter- 
change which seem to have been essential 
elements in the extraordinary development 
of the university system. 

THE ROYAL SOCIETY 

When we pass to England, and examine 
the history of intellectual progress, we 
find a fundamentally different condition 
of affairs. This reflects the natural char- 
acteristics of the English people, just as the 
university system of Germany and the aca- 
demic activities of France illustrate the 
essential qualities of these nations. Merz's 
picture of the growth of scientific research 
in England is in some respects a somber 
one. In his view the Royal Society appears 
to have played no part in advancing the 
intellectual life of the nation and the Royal 
Institution, as well as Oxford and Cam- 
bridge, fare little better at his hands. 

Now no one will attempt to deny that 
the characteristic quality of British science 
has always rested in the individual, and 

38 



that organized efforts there have played a 
less conspicuous part than in France or in 
Germany. During a large part of their 
history, Oxford and Cambridge have done 
little for research, though the past half 
century has seen a remarkable change 
in this respect, particularly in the case of 
the Cavendish laboratory, whose succession 
of brilliant leaders can hardly be matched 
in the history of any other university lab- 
oratory. Men whose names are famous in 
science have sprung up in the most unex- 
pected places, without ancestry, training 
or encouragement to account for the domi- 
nant influence they have exerted on the 
scientific thought of the world. A notable 
illustration of this kind is afforded by 
Faraday, whose obscure origin, extreme 
poverty, and lack of the assistance of 
schools, were most fortunately offset by his 
transcendent genius and by the influence 
of Davy, whose lectures at the Royal Insti- 
tution soon transformed the bookbinder's 
apprentice into Davy's able successor. 
Darwin, though of distinguished ancestry, 
was another English "amateur" whose 
work was done apart from the universities. 

39 



A host of others might be mentioned, whose 
extraordinarily original contributions to 
scientific thought have found few equals in 
other lands. For the most part, they have 
worked alone and sometimes unaided, and 
their great results have been achieved in 
spite of conditions which may appear un- 
favorable and discouraging. But in my 
opinion the Royal Society and the Royal 
Institution, not to speak of other important 
agencies, such as the societies devoted to 
special branches of science, have exercised 
in England a profoundly favorable influ- 
ence which can not be ignored. 

In failing to take note of this in his 
classic work, Merz seems to exhibit some 
traces of a pessimistic quality which is 
sometimes encountered in English life. 
It is mainly to short-sightedness of the 
government and to individual conserv- 
atism that I should be inclined to charge 
that lack of support of scientific men 
of which Merz so feelingly complains, 
rather than to the Royal Society and 
other organized bodies for the promo- 
tion of science. As a matter of fact, 
it is easy to show that these institutions 
40 



have exerted a powerful stimulus, without 
which the progress of science in England 
undoubtedly would have been delayed. 

In the first place, the Royal Society has 
extended the distinction and privileges of 
its fellowship to a much larger number of 
investigators than have been similarly hon- 
ored by the continental academies.^^ Every 
investigator in science will understand and 
appreciate the benefit which such recogni- 
tion entails. Most of all the obscure indi- 
vidual worker, unnoticed and unsupported 
by the universities, but wholly devoted to 
the pursuit of science, must benefit by 
such moral support. On the continent I 
have known investigators of this type, not 
connected with a university, and receiving 
no aid or encouragement from neighboring 
university men, who could not be recog- 
nized by election to the academies because 
of their limited membership or their fixed 
traditions. In England many such men 
have been received into the Royal Society, 
which has been glad to publish their 
papers as Fellows and to aid them in other 
ways. 

35 Fifteen new members are elected annually, 
making a total membersMp of 477 (Jan. 1, 1913). 
41 



A notable illustration is afforded by the 
case of Newton, elected a Fellow of the 
Eoyal Society on January 11, 1671, and 
subsequently its president for the long 
period of twenty-four years. A month 
following his election, Newton communi- 
cated to the Society his discovery of the 
composite nature of white light, which, 
when published in the Philosophical Trans- 
actions, was the first of his productions to 
appear in print. In expressing his thanks 
to the Society, Newton remarked :^^ 

It was an esteem of the Eoyal Society for most 
candid and able judges in philosophical matters, 
that encouraged me to present them with that dis- 
course of light and colors, which since they have 
so favorably accepted of, I do earnestly desire you 
to return them my most cordial thanks. I before 
thought it a great favor to be made a member of 
that honorable body, but I am now more sensible 
of the advantage: for believe me. Sir, I not only 
esteem it a duty to concur with them in the promo- 
tion of real knowledge, but a great privilege, 
that, instead of exposing discourses to a preju- 
diced and censorious multitude (by which means 

36 Weld, ''History of the Eoyal Society,'' Vol. 
I., p. 237. Brewster's ''Life of Newton" gives 
an interesting account of Newton's relations with 
the Eoyal Society and his plan for its improve- 
ment (Vol. I., p. 102). 

42 



many truths have been baffled and lost), I may, 
with freedom, apply myself to so judicious and 
impartial an assembly. 

Leuwenhoeck, ''the father of microscop- 
ical discoveries, " who communicated no less 
than 375 papers and letters to the Society 
during a period of fifty years, bequeathed 
a collection of microscopes "as a mark of 
my gratitude, and acknowledgment of the 
great honor which I have received from the 
Royal Society. "^^ 

When the Royal Observatory was estab- 
lished at Greenwich, the government failed 
for a period of nearly fifteen years to fur- 
nish it with a single instrument. In this 
extremity Flamsteed appealed to the Royal 
Society, with the following result recorded 
in the minutes : 

It was ordered that the astronomical instru- 
ments belonging to the Society be lent to the 
Observatory at Greenwich, and that Mr. Hooke's 
new quadrant be forthwith finished at the charges 
of the Society.38 

Examples of this nature might be 
multiplied indefinitely, but a single case 
will suffice, since no more striking instance 

37 Weld, idid,, p. 245. 

38 Weld, ibid., p. 255. 

43 



of the splendid results directly due to the 
encouragement and aid of the Royal So- 
ciety could be asked than that illustrated 
in the life and work of Sir William Hug- 
gins, one of the founders of astrophysics, 
and a typical example of the English 
*' amateur" investigator.^® Sir William, to 
whose addresses as president of the Royal 
Society we shall have occasion to refer 
later, was not a university man. With his 
accomplished wife as his only assistant, 
he lived and did all his work at Upper 
Tulse Hill, well removed from the bustle of 
Piccadilly on the Surrey side of the 
Thames. It is more than probable that 
without the stimulus and aid of the Royal 
Society much of his great work could not 
have been done. For it was on returning 
home from a Royal Society meeting in com- 
pany with his friend Miller that he first 
conceived the idea of observing the spectra 
of stars, and it was with telescopes and 
other instruments loaned to him by the So- 
ciety that his classic observations were 

39 It is hardly necessary to say that the term 
''amateur" is used here to denote one who works 
in science for the pure love of the subject, and 
not in the sense of dilettante. 
44 



made. In spite of fogs and clouds of Lon- 
don smoke, he continued his work up to the 
very end of his long life, dividing his al- 
legiance to science only between his astro- 
physical investigations and the develop- 
ment of the Royal Society, of which he was 
for forty years a leading Fellow. 

Thus, in spite of that early poverty which 
prevented the Royal Society from publish- 
ing the ^^Principia" of Newton, it has lent 
its powerful aid and support to many a 
British investigator, who without it would 
have been absolutely isolated. Its large 
collection of instruments, the accumula- 
tion of more than two centuries, is freely 
placed at the disposal of those who need 
them. Its Philosophical Transactions and 
Proceedings have furnished the most de- 
sirable means of publication for an enor- 
mous mass of scientific literature. Its 
meetings bring together every Thursday at 
Burlington House the leading scientific 
men of the kingdom, and furnish an oppor- 
tunity for stimulating interchanges of view 
which have played a great part in scien- 
tific progress. Its various gold medals, im- 
partially bestowed at home and abroad, in 
45 



recognition of advances in science, have 
been effectively supplemented by financial 
assistance to investigators from the Govern- 
ment Grant Fund of £4,000 per annum, 
which is administered by the Society. To 
its influence is largely due the high stand- 
ard of efficiency maintained by the govern- 
ment in its appointment of astronomers 
royal and other directors of the scientific 
research of the nation. When the govern- 
ment decided to establish a National Phys- 
ical Laboratory it turned at once to the 
Royal Society, to which it delegated the 
planning and control of this great institu- 
tion. Its Catalogue of Scientific Papers, 
continued as the International Catalogue 
of Scientific Literature, has contributed 
in a most important way to the accessibil- 
ity and usefulness of the literature of sci- 
ence, and is indispensable to every investi- 
gator. It has supplied both money and in- 
struments to scientific expeditions sent to 
all parts of the globe, and provided for the 
suitable reduction and discussion of the 
observations obtained. It has aided the 
government of India in the work of the 
Indian Meteorological Department and 
46 



participated with the meteorological office 
in the direction of the work of the Kew 
and its sister observatories. The reports of 
its Sleeping Sickness Commission have 
advanced in an important degree our 
knowledge of tropical diseases. In fact, 
one could point to an almost unlimited 
number of illustrations of the beneficent 
activities of the Royal Society as the lead- 
ing representative of British research, and 
as one of the most powerful factors in 
broad projects of cooperation, such as those 
of the International Association of Acad- 
emies. 

Unlike the academies of St. Petersburg, 
Berlin, Vienna and Stockholm, which 
maintain large research laboratories or sup- 
port research professorships, the Royal 
Society has no laboratories of its own. 
Closely allied with it, however, is the Royal 
Institution, formerly known as 'Hhe work- 
shop of the Royal Society.'' No labora- 
tory in existence can match its extraordi- 
nary record, accomplished at an almost in- 
credibly small cost.^^ When one recalls 
Young's great work in laying the founda- 

4oDewar, address as president of the British 
Association, Belfast, 1902, p. 11. 
47 



tion of the wave-theory of light, not to 
speak of his success in discovering the 
first clue to the translation of Egyptian 
hieroglyphics; Davy's long series of dis- 
coveries in chemistry, and his public lec- 
tures and demonstrations; Faraday's great 
achievements in physical and chemical 
research, and the dignity and luster he 
imparted to the popular presentation of 
scientific results to a general audience; 
Tyndall's success in the same lecture-hall, 
and his services in popularizing science in 
the United States; and the long series of 
important investigations, especially in the 
fruitful field of low temperature phenom- 
ena, which we owe to Dewar, who has now 
occupied the chair of chemistry even 
longer than Faraday: these form a record 
remarkable in the annals of science, with 
returns so rich as to be worthy of the ex- 
penditure of almost any sum. But even 
this long list does not represent the total 
product of the laboratory, where such emi- 
nent leaders as Lord Rayleigh and Sir 
Joseph Thomson have also conducted in- 
vestigations of the first importance. So 
far as my own observations have gone, no 
48 



other laboratory holds a more tangible at- 
mosphere of research or stimulates more 
powerfully the imagination of the visitor. I 
shall have occasion later to refer to the 
equally remarkable success of the Royal In- 
stitution in diffusing and popularizing 
knowledge through its courses of experi- 
mental lectures. 

Academies of the first class are so nu- 
merous that only a few of the oldest or- 
ganizations, whose work bears directly 
upon the problems of our own National 
Academy, can be mentioned in this paper. 
I hope to have opportunity at some future 
time to describe the work of such influen- 
tial bodies as the Vienna Academy, which 
has founded a Radium Institute and taken 
steps which should result in the establish- 
ment of a Solar Observatory; the Stock- 
holm Academy, entrusted with the respon- 
sibility of awarding the Nobel Prizes in 
physics and chemistry; the Amsterdam 
Academy, focus of the great research work 
of Holland; and many other academies of 
the highest rank representing the various 
nations of Europe. ■ For the present I 
must limit attention to a group of institu- 
tions which suffice to typify the wide 



range of academic activities. However, a 
word must be added regarding the St. 
Petersburg Academy, established by Cath- 
erine I. on the plans of Peter the Great in 
1725, because of its special plan of organi- 
zation. The president, director and fifteen 
members are paid annual stipends ranging 
from one thousand to three thousand dol- 
lars, and provided with dwelling houses. 
The great academy building, with its li- 
brary of over 36,000 books and manuscripts, 
contains large laboratories in which in- 
vestigations are constantly in progress. 
The extensive publications include re- 
searches in every field of knowledge and 
exhaustive memoirs on the topography, 
geography and history of Russia and the 
manners, customs and languages of its 
various peoples. 

THE PURPOSE OF ACADEMIES 

From this survey of the work of a few 
of the leading academies and allied institu- 
tions, we see that original investigations 
have played a large part in their activities, 
from the days of the great Museum at 
Alexandria to the present time. In certain 
instances, illustrated in the history of the 
50 



University of Berlin, some of the work of 
investigation has been transferred from 
the academies to the universities, but 
without interrupting the larger activities 
of the academies in the same field. Again, 
in cases like that of the Eoyal Society, the 
development of a closely allied laboratory 
of research, such as the Royal Institution, 
has partially supplied the place which 
a laboratory under the exclusive control of 
the Society might have held. The essential 
thing to note is the advantage which re- 
sults from the organic relationship of an 
academy with a laboratory for the produc- 
tion of new knowledge. An academy will 
reach its greatest influence, and serve its 
most useful purpose in stimulating the 
work of its members, when it is recognized 
as an institution primarily '*for the in- 
crease" rather than *'for the diffusion of 
knowledge among men." 

In the field of publication, the national 
academies of former times were predomi- 
nant factors, so much so that we owe to 
their printed pages the great volume of the 
original contributions of the earlier days 
of science. With the rapid extension of 

51 



the facilities for investigation, and the ex- 
tensive ramifications of science into special 
fields, the societies and journals devoted 
to particular lines of research naturally 
arose and multiplied. The prestige of such 
publications as the Proceedings and Trans- 
actions of the Royal Society fortunately 
enables them to hold their own, in spite of 
the competition of so many journals de- 
voted to special subjects. And the oppor- 
tunity afforded by academies for the pub- 
lication of extended memoirs beyond the 
range of ordinary periodicals, is univer- 
sally appreciated. As regards shorter com- 
munications, the peculiar claims of the 
special journals, which have been proved 
by time to serve the purposes for which 
they were designed, would naturally re- 
ceive consideration in elaborating any new 
plan of academic publication to meet ex- 
isting needs. This subject will be more 
fully considered in a later paper. 

In the management and distribution of 
trust funds for research, the loan of instru- 
ments, the award of prizes, and especially 
in the advice of governments and individ- 
uals as to the best means of initiating and 

52 



conducting scientific enterprises, national 
academies occupy a position which private 
foundations can hardly hope to rival. 
The value of advice received from a body 
of the highest reputation and prestige is 
greatly enhanced, because of the increased 
probability that it will be heeded and 
carried into effect. For a similar reason, 
recognition of individual achievement 
through the award of prizes or election to 
membership acquires its greatest weight 
when received from such a body. 

After reviewing all of the activities 
which we see so diversely exemplified by 
the national academies of different coun- 
tries, the conviction is forced upon one 
that the first and best object of these bod- 
ies must always be to uphold the dignity 
and importance of scientific research, and 
to diffuse throughout the nation a true ap- 
preciation of the intellectual and practical 
benefits which will inevitably result from 
its support and encouragement. But to ac- 
complish great results in this field, an 
academy must enjoy the active cooperation 
of the leaders of the state. To appreciate 
this, we have only to remember the many 
striking illustrations afforded in the his- 
tory of civilization. What was done by 

53 



Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies 
for Egypt, by the house of Medici for 
Italy, by Richelieu, Colbert and Napoleon 
for France, can be done for other nations 
by living statesmen to-day. In the midst 
of his campaigns Napoleon never forgot 
the paramount claims of science and the 
fine arts. Writing to the astronomer 
Oriani from IMilan, which he had entered 
in triumph. Napoleon said: 

The sciences "wliicli do honor to the human mind 
and the arts which embellish life and perpetuate 
great achievements for posterity, should be espe- 
cially honored under free governments. 

... I invite the scholars to meet and to give 
me their opinions as to the means that should be 
taken, and the needs to be fulfilled, in order to 
bring new life and activity into the sciences and 
the fine arts. Those who wish to go to France 
will be received with distinction by the govern- 
ment. The French people sets a higher value on 
the acquisition of a skilled mathematician, a cele- 
brated painter or a distinguished man of any 
profession, than upon the possession of the larg- 
est and richest city.^i 

This article can not be better closed 
than by a quotation from Laplace, the 
most distinguished member of the Paris 
Academy in its brilliant days under the 
first empire. 

41 Maindron, 

54 



Nature is so varied in her manifestations and 
phenomena, and the diflS.culty of elucidating their 
causes is so great, that many must unite their 
knowledge and efforts in order to comprehend 
her and force her to reveal her laws. This union 
becomes indispensable when the progress of the 
sciences, multiplying their points of contact, and 
no longer permitting a single individual to under- 
stand them all, throws upon a group of investiga- 
tors the task of furnishing the mutual aid which 
they demand. Thus the physicist appeals to the 
mathematician in his efforts to arrive at the gen- 
eral causes of observed phenomena, and the 
mathematician in his turn consults the physicist, 
in order to render his investigations useful by 
practical applications, and in the hope of opening 
up new possibilities in mathematics. But the 
chief advantage of academies is the philosophic 
spirit which must develop within them, thence dif- 
fusing itself throughout the nation and permeating 
every interest. The isolated scholar may yield 
with impunity to the tendencies of the systema- 
tist, since he hears only from afar the criticism 
that he arouses. But in an academy the impact 
of such tendencies ends in their destruction, and 
the desire for mutual conviction necessarily es- 
tablishes the rule of admitting only the results of 
observation and calculation. Furthermore, ex- 
perience has shown that since the origin of acad- 
emies the true spirit of philosophy has prevailed. 
By setting the example of submitting everything 
to the test of severe logic, they have overthrown 
the preconceived notions which too long domi- 
nated science, and were shared by the ablest 
55 



! 



minds of previous centuries. Their useful influ- 
ence on public opinion has dissipated errors 
greeted in our own time with an enthusiasm 
which would have perpetuated them in earlier 
days. Equally removed from the credulity which 
denies nothing and the conservatism which would 
reject everything that departs from accepted 
ideas, they have at all times wisely awaited the 
result of observation and experiment on difficult 
questions and unusual phenomena, promoting 
them by prizes and by their own researches. 
Measuring their approval no less by the greatness 
and difficulty of a discovery than by its immediate 
utility, and convinced, by many examples, that 
what appears to be least fruitful may ultimately 
yield important consequences, they have encour- 
aged the pursuit of truth in all fields, excluding 
only those which the limitations of the human 
understanding render forever inaccessible. 
Finally, we owe to them those great theories, ele- 
vated by their generality above the comprehen- 
sion of the layman, which through numerous ap- 
plications to natural phenomena and the arts, 
have become inexhaustible sources of happiness 
and enlightenment. Wise governments, convinced 
of the usefulness of scientific societies, and re- 
garding them as one of the principal causes of 
the glory and prosperity of empires, have estab- 
lished such bodies in their very midst, in order 
to profit by their counsel, which has often 
brought lasting benefits.42 

42 ' ' Exposition du Systeme du Monde, ' ' Oeuvres, 
Vol. VI., p. 418. 

56 



II. THE FIRST HALF CENTURY OF 

THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF 

SCIENCES 

In the days preceding the American Revo- 
lution, the Royal Society was to this coun- 
try what it still is to the existing British 
Colonies: the central and authoritative 
representative of scientific research.^ 
Americans eminent for their contributions 
to science were elected Fellows, and their 
papers appeared in the Philosophical Tran- 
sactions. The list of colonial Fellows in- 
cludes Cotton Mather, Bowdoin, Dudley, 
and the three Winthrops in New England ; 
Franklin, Rittenhouse and Morgan in 
Pennsylvania; Banister, Clayton, Mitchell 

1 See an excellent article by G. Browne Goode, 
from which the data used in the introduction of the 
present paper are taken: *'The Origin of the Na- 
tional Scientific and Educational Institutions of the 
United States," Annual Eeport of the American 
Historical Association for 1889. 
57 



and Bird, in Virginia, and Garden and 
Williamson in the Carolinas. But so distant 
a body could not meet all local needs. Thus 
Franklin, active in every field, undertook 
the organization of the American Philo- 
sophical Society in 1743, some years before 
its time, as its early demise proved. In 1766 
the American Society held at Philadelphia 
for Promoting Useful Knowledge was 
established and Franklin, then in Europe, 
was elected its first president. In the mean- 
time the earlier society was revived, and 
the amalgamation of the two in 1769 gave 
rise to a scientific body which has always 
exercised a powerful and beneficent influ- 
ence on the progress of science in the 
United States. The prominence in the af- 
fairs of state of its leading members is illus- 
trated in the frequent interruptions to the 
proceedings of the society between 1773 
and 1779, when these men, who included 
Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and 
Adams, were occupied with the labors of 
organizing the new republic. The Ameri- 
can Philosophical Society, modelled after 
the Royal Society, but embracing the whole 
'field of knowledge, soon assumed great 

58 



importance at its seat in Philadelphia, then 
the center of American scientific and liter- 
ary life. 

John Adams, when representing the 
United States in France, learned of the ap- 
preciation in which the Philosophical So- 
ciety was held in academic circles. On his 
return to Boston in 1779 he suggested the 
establishment of the American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences, which was duly incorpo- 
rated by act of the Massachusetts State 
Legislature in 1780. At this time the in- 
fluence of France was naturally more potent 
than that of England, and the Academies 
of Paris were chosen as models by the char- 
ter members of the new organization. 

The year 1778 marks the inception of an 
ambitious plan, proposed by the Chevalier 
Quesnay de Beaurepaire. His scheme for 
the Academy of Arts and Sciences of the 
United States had been endorsed by the 
King of France, the Royal Academies of 
Science and of the Fine Arts, and by La- 
voisier, Condorcet and many eminent 
Frenchmen. The sum of sixty thousand 
francs was subscribed by wealthy Virgin- 
ians, and a building was erected in Rich- 
59 



mond in 1786. One (French) professor 
was appointed to make natural history col- 
lections and extensive plans for branch 
establishments in Baltimore, Philadelphia 
and New York were contemplated. But the 
French Revolution put an end to this in- 
tellectual exotic. 

In the present paper, devoted primarily 
to the history of the National Academy, we 
must pass over many interesting develop- 
ments in the early scientific life of the 
nation. Reference must be made, how- 
ever, to the incorporation of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science 
in 1848, and to the intense vitality which 
has enabled this body, in cooperation with 
many special societies of later origin, to 
bring the results of scientific research 
within the reach of an ever- widening public. 

Alexander Dallas Bache, superinten- 
dent of the United States Coast Survey 
from 1843 to 1867, and one of the leading 
spirits of his time, was among the first to 
express publicly the demand for a national 
organization of American research officially 
recognized as such by Congress.^ In his 

2 For most of the material in the following pages 
the writer is indebted to a history of the "First 
60 



presidential address to the American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of Science 
in 1851 he emphasized the need of ''an in- 
stitution of science, supplementary to ex- 
isting ones, to guide public action in refer- 
ence to scientific matters." 

Suppose an institute of which the members be- 
long in turn to each of our widely scattered 
states, working at their places of residence and 
reporting their results; meeting only at particular 
times, and for special purposes; engaged in re- 
searches self-directed, or desired by the body, 
called for by congress or by the executive, who 
furnish the means for the inquiries. . . . The 
public treasury would be saved many times the 
support of such a council, by the sound advice 
which it would give in regard to various projects 
which are constantly forced upon their notice, and 
in regard to which they are compelled to decide 
without the knowledge which alone can ensure a 
wise conclusion. 

. . . Such a body would supply a place not oc- 
cupied by existing institutions, and which our own 

Half Century of the National Academy of Sci- 
ences, '* prepared and edited by Frederick W. 
True, under the direction of Dr. Arnold Hague, 
then Home Secretary, in connection with the re- 
cent celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 
founding of the Academy. 

61 



is, from its temporary and volimtary cliaracter, 
not able to supply.s 

As president of the American Associa- 
tion, and as a prominent member of the 
American Philosophical Society and the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 
Bache entertained no misconception regard- 
ing the admirable aims and the no less admir- 
able successes of these older societies. Each 
performed then, as it does now, a useful 
function of broad scope, which the proposed 
organization was not to rival but to supple- 
ment. The American Philosophical Society 
continues to exert a wide and useful influ- 
ence, drawing to its annual meetings in 
Philadelphia a large body of able men 
representing every field of knowledge. 
Its strong vitality and its traditions 
of a scholarly past are shared 
by the American Academy, now rapidly 
increasing in membership and advantage- 
ously established in the permanent home 
provided for it in Boston by Alexander 
Agassiz. The American Association, like 
the British Association for the Advance- 

3 Op. cit., pp. 7, 8. 

62 



ment of Science, holds its annual meetings 
in widely scattered cities, thus bringing 
under its influence a great number of peo- 
ple, whose attention might not be attracted 
from a distance. Clearly there was still 
room for an academy chartered by congress 
and closely related to the national govern- 
ment, to which it might render some such 
services as the principal countries of Eu- 
rope receive from their great academies. 

Bache's hopes were to be realized twelve 
years later. On February 11, 1863, Gideon 
Welles, secretary of the navy, appointed 
Admiral Davis, Professor Henry and Pro- 
fessor Bache a ''Permanent Commission'^ 
''to which shall be referred questions of 
science and art upon which the (navy) de- 
partment may require information."* En- 
couraged by this governmental recognition, 
Bache, Peirce, Davis, Gould and Agassiz in- 
duced Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, to 
introduce in congress a bill to incorporate 
the National Academy of Sciences. This 
passed the Senate and House on March 3, 
1863, and was signed by the president on 
the same day. 

4 Op. cit., p. 1. 

63 



The act of incorporation named fifty men 
of science as charter members, and limited 
the membership of the Academy to this 
number. A second act of congress, passed 
in 1870, removed this limitation. At pres- 
ent the amended constitution provides that 
ten new members may be elected annually. 
The actual number of names now on the 
roll is .one hundred and thirty-two. In 
addition to these there are forty-nine for- 
eign associates and one honorary member. 

The list of incorporators contains many 
distinguished names: Agassiz, Alexander, 
Bache, Barnard, Dana, Davis, Gilliss, 
Gould, Wolcott Gibbs, Asa Gray, Guyot, 
James Hall, Henry, Hilgard, Le Conte, 
Leidy, Lesley, Newberry, Newton, Peirce, 
Rogers, Rutherfurd, Silliman, Torrey, 
Whitney, Wyman — among others equally 
well known. Chosen from the country at 
large, and fairly representative of the sci- 
ence of the day, the membership was 
worthy of a truly national body. 

The organization of the National Acad- 
emy was "the first recognition by our gov- 
ernment of the importance of abstract sci- 
ence as an essential element of mental and 

64 



material progress."^ One of the objects 
in the minds of its founders was to confer 
distinction on men of science who had ac- 
complished important original research, 
and thus to encourage and stimulate them 
to further effort. Another prime object 
was to aid the government in the solution 
of problems of a scientific nature. In 1863, 
the year of the Academy's incorporation, 
the civil war was in progress, and the gov- 
ernment stood in need of just such advice 
as a body of able scientific men could sup- 
ply. It will be seen later that the assist- 
ance of the Academy was often sought and 
rendered, not alone in this period, but also 
in subsequent years. 

The idea that a democratic government 
could not consistently confer distinction 
upon its citizens, though held by some crit- 
ics of the day, was not shared by Joseph 
Henry, whose words may again be quoted 
from the report cited above : 

It is not enoTigh for our govemment to offer en- 
couragement to the direct promotion of the useful 
arts through the more or less fortunate efforts of 

5 From the report for 1867 of Joseph Henry, 
president of the National Academy, op. cit., p. 
14. 

65 



inventors; it is absolutely necessary, if we would 
advance or even preserve our reputation for true 
intelligence, that encouragement and facilities 
should be afforded for devotion to original re- 
search in the various branches of human knowledge. 
In the other countries scientific discovery is stimu- 
lated by pensions, by titles of honor and by various 
social and oflS.cial distinctions. The French aca- 
demicians receive an annual salary and are deco- 
rated with the insignia of the Legion of Honor. 
Similar marks of distinction are conferred on the 
members of the Academy of Berlin and that of 
St. Petersburg. These modes of stimulation or 
encouragement may be considered inconsistent with 
our social ideas and perhaps with our forms of 
government. There are honors, nevertheless, which 
in an intelligent democracy have been and may be 
justly awarded to those who enlarge the field of 
human thought and human power. Heretofore, but 
two principal means of distinction have been rec- 
ognized in this country, viz.: the acquisition of 
wealth and the possession of political power. The 
war seems to have offered a third, in bestowing 
position and renown for successful military 
achievement. The establishment of this Academy 
may be perhaps regarded as having opened a fourth 
avenue for the aspirations of a laudable ambition, 
which interferes neither with our national preju- 
dices nor our political principles, and which only 
requires the fostering care of government to be- 
come of essential benefit and importance not only 

66 



to this, but all tlie civilized countries of the 
world.6 

The special problems raised by the civil 
war emphasized the value of the services 
which the Academy might render the gov- 
ernment, at a period when most of the sci- 
entific bureaus of later years were not yet 
organized. But the war had only an inci- 
dental bearing on the designation of the 
Academy as the scientific adviser of the na- 
tion. The desire of President Lincoln and 
his Secretary of State to receive advice 
from the Academy on more general ques- 
tions is shown by the following letter from 
Secretary Seward to President Bache :'^ 

Department of State, 
Washington, January 8, 1864. 
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your note of the 7th instant, tendering 
to this department the aid of the Academy of 
Sciences in any investigation that it may be 
thought proper to institute with a view to the 
great reform of producing an uniformity of 
weights and measures among commercial nations. 
Be pleased to express to the Academy my sincere 
thanks for this enlightened and patriotic pro- 
ceeding, and assure them that, with the authority 

6 Op. cit., p. 14. 

7 Op, cit., p. 16. 

67 



of the President, I shall be happy to avail myself 
of the assistance thus tendered to me, and to that 
end I shall at all times be happy to receive the 
suggestions of the Academy, or of any committee 
that may be named by it, in conformity with the 
spirit of the note you have addressed to me. 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 

William H. Sewaed 

We shall have occasion later to consider 
how the Academy has assisted the govern- 
ment in the solution of problems of the 
most diverse character. 

The first meeting of the National Acad- 
emy, attended by more than three fifths of 
the incorporators, was held at the Univer- 
sity of the City of New York on April 22, 
1863. Senator Wilson, who had introduced 
in the senate the bill of incorporation, ad- 
dressed the Academy at the opening of the 
first session. After alluding to the fact 
that the idea of forming such an institution 
had long existed, he dwelt on the signifi- 
cance of unanimous action by congress at a 
time when the country was suffering under 
the burden of the great civil war. With its 
widely distributed membership, he felt that 
the Academy would contribute in the future 
68 



toward tlie unity and indivisibility of the 
nation. 

"With Professor Henry in the chair, and 
other leaders of American science taking 
part in the deliberations, the work of the 
Academy was begun under the most favor- 
able auspices. The constitution and by- 
laws were prepared by a strong committee, 
including such men as Agassiz, Benjamin 
Gould, Peirce and Silliman, with Bache as 
chairman. After three days of discussion 
they were adopted by the Academy, and 
finally ratified at the first "Washington 
meeting, held in one of the committee rooms 
of the senate on January 4-6, 1864. 

In the space at our disposal, we must 
content ourselves with a brief glance at the 
principal acts of the Academy during the 
fifty years of its existence, referring the 
reader to the work so often cited for further 
details. In accordance with the terms of 
the constitution, the members were divided 
into two classes, (a) mathematics and phys- 
ics, and (h) natural history, each class hav- 
ing a chairman and secretary. The names 
of the sections, and the number of members 
in each, are given in the following table : 

69 



Class of MatJiematics and Physics 

Number 

of 
Members 

Sect. 1. Mathematics 6 

Sect. 2. Physics 6 

Sect. 3. Astronomy, Geography and Geod- 
esy 9 

Sect. 4. Mechanics 6 

Sect. 5. Chemistry 3 30 

Class of Natural History 

Number 
of 

Members 

Sect. 1. Mineralogy and Geology 6 

Sect. 2. Zoology 5 

Sect. 3. Botany 1 

Sect. 4. Anatomy and Physiology 2 

Sect. 5. Ethnology 14 

Total 44 

It is interesting to contrast this organi- 
zation with that existing at the present 
time: 

Sect. 1. Mathematics and Astronomy .... 23 

Sect. 2. Physics and Engineering 25 

Sect. 3. Chemistry 23 

72~ 
Deduct names counted twice. 5 66 
70 



Sect. 4. Geology and Paleontology 24 

Sect. 5. Botany 9 

Sect. 6. Zoology and Animal Morphology. 18 

Sect. 7. Physiology and Pathology 15 

Sect. 8. Anthropology and Psychology. . . 9 

75 
Deduct names counted twice 9 66 
Total "- 132 

At the outset, two thirds of the members 
belonged to the class of mathematics and 
physics, and only one third to the class of 
natural history. At present, while the two 
classes no longer exist as such, it is easy to 
group the members in the same way. De- 
ducting the names counted twice, we find 
that 66 would now fall in the first class, and 
exactly the same number in the second. 
Thus the discrepancy formerly existing 
between the two classes has been adjusted 
in the process of time.^ 

It is important to note that the division 
of members into sections is solely for the 
purpose of facilitating nominations for new 

8 DeCandoUe notes a similar preference for the 
mathematical and physical sciences on the part of 
the Berlin Academy during the eighteenth cen- 
tury, which was subsequently adjusted by revision 
of the statutes. (''Histoire des Sciences et des 
Savants," 2 ed., p. 261.) 
71 



elections, as now provided by the constitu- 
tion. 

In view of the preponderance of physi- 
cists, it is not surprising that three fourths 
of the scientific papers read at the first 
Washington meeting were connected with 
the physical sciences. These papers were 
referred to the committee on publication, 
with instructions to publish, but the lack of 
funds for this purpose stood in the way. 
When the first volume of the Memoirs 
finally appeared in 1866, it contained but 
two of these papers. It was then planned 
to print the minor papers in the Proceed- 
ings of the academy, but this was never 
done. The first part of the first volume of 
the Proceedings was published in 1877. 
This contained the constitution and by- 
laws, reports on the principal business ac- 
tions of the Academy, and much miscel- 
laneous matter relating to resolutions 
passed, titles of papers presented, reports 
of committees, etc. Publication of the Pro- 
ceedings was discontinued in 1895, after 
three parts had appeared.® In 1881, 649 
papers had been read at the scientific ses- 
sions. President Rogers, feeling that the 

9 Op. dt., p. '44. 

72 



Academy would have received much more 
recognition from the scientific world if 
these had been printed, strongly and re- 
peatedly urged that the papers be collected 
annually and transmitted to congress with 
the report.^^ Unfortunately this was never 
done, and the reports still give only an ab- 
stract of the proceedings, in which the 
papers appear by title. The importance 
of reviving and enlarging the Proceedings 
will be discussed in another article. 

The Academy has published eleven vol- 
umes of Memoirs, containing 68 quarto 
papers, and seven volumes of Biographical 
Memoirs of deceased members, in addition 
to annual reports and reports of com- 
mittees. 

In view of the existence of a detailed 
history of the Academy, it is quite unnec- 
essary in the present paper to dwell at 
length upon the events of the first fifty 
years. A brief outline of the more impor- 
tant work of the Academy is nevertheless 
essential to clearness, especially in connec- 
tion with the suggestions for the future 
which are to be presented later. We may, 
therefore, consider briefly: (1) the work 

10 op. cit., p. 51. 

73 



of the members; (2) the Academy's work 
for the national government; (3) medals 
and trust funds, and (4) cooperation in re- 
search. 

THE WORK OF THE MEMBERS 

In his report for 1867 as president of 
the Academy, Joseph Henry spoke as fol- 
lows of the conditions of membership : 

It was implied in tlie organization of such a 
body tliat it should be exclusively composed of men 
distinguished for original research, and that to be 
chosen one of its members Tvould be considered a 
high honor, and consequently a stimulus to scien- 
tific labor, and that no one would be elected into 
it who had not earned the distinction by actual 
discoveries enlarging the field of human knowledge. 

. . . since the original organization, the prin- 
ciple before mentioned has been strictly observed, 
and no one has been admitted except after a full 
discussion of his claims and a satisfactory answer 
to the question, ''What has he done to advance 
science in the line of research which he has espe- 
cially prosecuted?" 

And again, in his valedictory address to 
the Academy (1878), Henry returned to 
this subject. 

For this purpose great care must be exercised in 
the selection of its members. It must not be for- 
gotten for a moment that the basis of selection is 
actual scientific labor in the way of original re- 
74 



search; that is, in making positive additions to 
the sum of human knowledge, connected with un- 
impeachable moral character. 

It is not social position, popularity, extended 
authorship or success as an instructor in science, 
which entitles to membership, but actual new dis- 
coveries, nor are these sufficient if the reputation 
of the candidate is in the slightest degree tainted 
with injustice or want of truth. 

These principles have been observed to 
the present day, sometimes in the face of 
great temptation to elect men eminent for 
achievements other than those of original 
research. Thus the Academy has counted 
among its members the large majority of 
the leaders of American science. While 
it is of course impossible to describe their 
individual contributions in these pages,^^ 
some remarks on the progress of American 
research since the foundation of the Acad- 
emy will be given in a later paper. 

THE WORK OF THE ACADEMY FOR THE 
NATION 

In the first annual report of the presi- 
dent of the Academy, presented to congress 
in 1864, Professor Bache remarked: 

11 Biographies of the incorporators may be found 
in the "History of the National Academy," so 
often cited. 

75 



The want of an institution by which, the scien- 
tific strength of the country may be brought, from 
time to time, to the aid of the government in guid- 
ing action by the knowledge of scientific principles 
and experiments, has long been felt by the patri- 
otic scientific men of the United States. No gov- 
ernment of Europe has been willing to dispense 
with a body, under some name, capable of render- 
ing such aid to the government, and in turn of il- 
lustrating the country by scientific discovery and 
by literary culture. 

In a previous paper the distinctive posi- 
tion held by European academies as or- 
ganizations of the government, and the 
services they render to the state, have been 
briefly described.^- Here, as elsewhere in 
these papers, we must not overlook the 
special conditions which distinguish the 
National Academy from similar bodies 
abroad. The Eoyal Society and the Paris 
Academy of Sciences, dating from the 
earliest beginnings of science in England 
and Prance, have been the media through 
which the great advances of more than two 
centuries have reached the w^orld. Discov- 
ery after discovery, first presented at their 
meetings and published in their proceed- 
ings, has been rightly associated in the 

12 Science, November 14, 1913. 
76 



public mind with these great societies, 
which have fostered science and encour- 
aged the labors of investigators. Thus 
they have acquired a prestige and a power 
in the state which could arise in no other 
way. It is not enough for a nation to 
charter an organization and to authorize it 
to act as the adviser of the government in 
scientific affairs. Appreciation of the 
fundamental importance of science as the 
source of all industrial progress, and con- 
fidence in the body appointed to advise the 
nation, are obvious prerequisites to that 
cooperation between statesmen and men of 
science which is essential to complete suc- 
cess. 

In spite of the disadvantage of a widely 
scattered membership, whose ^discoveries 
and contributions to science have always 
reached the world through other channels, 
and with no home of its own to focus at- 
tention on its activities, the National Acad- 
emy has often been called into the service 
of the country. It will be sufficient to give 
here a list of the subjects on which the 
Academy has been consulted by the govern- 
ment, referring the reader to the ''History 
77 



of the National Academy" (pp. 201 to 
331) for all details. 

COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY THE ACADEMY ON 
BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 

1. Committees appointed in accordance with Acts 

of Congress. 

1871. On the Transit of Venus. 

1872. On Preparing Instructions for the 

Polaris Expedition. 

1878. On a Plan for Surveying and Mapping 

the Territories of the United States. 

1879. On a National Board of Health. 

1894. To Prescribe and Publish Specifications 
for the Practical Application of the 
Definitions of the Ampere and Volt. 

1908. On the Methods and Expenses of Con- 
ducting Scientific Work Under the 
Government. 

2. Committees appointed at the request of Joint 

Commissions and Committees of Congress. 

1884. On the Signal Service of the Army, the 
Geological Survey, the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey, and the Hydro - 
graphic Office of the Navy Depart- 
ment. 

1902. On the Establishment of a National 
Forest Eeserve in the Southern Ap- 
palachians. 

3. Committees appointed at the request of the 

President of the United States. 
1870. On the Protection of Coal Mines from 
Explosion by Means of Electricity. 
78 



J 902. On Scientific Explorations in the Philip- 
pines. 
4. Committees appointed at the request of the 
Treasury Department. 
1863. On the National Currency (Confidential). 
1863. On Weights, Measures and Coinage. 

1863. On Saxton's Alcoholometer. 

1864. On Materials for the Manufacture of 

Cent Coins. 

1866. On the Prevention of Counterfeiting. 

1866. On Spirit Meters. 

1866. On Proving and Gauging Distilled Spir- 
its and Preventing Fraud. 

1866. On Metric Standards for the States. 

1870. On the EjBPect of Chemicals on Internal 
Eevenue Stamps. 

1873. On an International Bureau of Weights 
and Measures. 

1875. On Water-proofing the Fractional Cur- 
rency. 

1875. On Means of distinguishing Calf's Hair 

from Woolen Goods (Confidential). 

1876. On Artificial Coloring of Sugars to Sim- 

ulate a Lower Grade According to the 
Standard on which Duties are Levied 
(Confidential). 

1876. On the Use of Polarized Light to Deter- 

mine the Values of Sugars. 

1877. On Demerara Sugars. 

1878. On Building Stone to be used for the 

Custom House at Chicago (no re- 
port). 

79 



1882. On the Separation of Methyl Alcohol or 
Wood Spirits from Ethyl Alcohol. 

1882. On Glucose. 

1882. On Triangulation Connecting the At- 
lantic and Pacific Coasts (no report). 

1884. On Philosophical and Scientific Appa- 

ratus. 

1885. On the Tariff Classification of Wools. 
1886 

and 

1887. On the Morphine Content of Opium.. 

1887. On Quartz Plates used in Saccharimeters 
for Sugar Determinations. 

1890. To Formulate a Plan for a Systematic 
Search for the North Magnetic Pole. 
5. Committees appointed at the request of the Navy 
Department. 

1863. On Protecting the Bottoms of Iron Ves- 
sels. 

1863. On Magnetic Deviation in Iron Ships. 

1863. On Wind and Current Charts and Sail- 

ing Directions. 

1864. On the Explosion on the United States 

Steamer Chenango. 
1864. On Experiments on the Expansion of 

Steam. 
1877. On Proposed Changes in the American 

Ephemeris. 
1881. On the Transit of Venus. 
1885. On the Astronomical Day, the Solar 

Eclipse of 1886, and the Erection of 

a New Naval Observatory. 



80 



6. Committees appointed at the request of the War 

Department. 
1864. On the Question of Tests for the Purity 
of Whiskey. 

1866. On the Preservation of Paint on Army 

Knapsacks. 

1867. On Galvanic Action from Association of 

Zinc and Iron. 
1873. On the Exploration of the Yellowstone. 
1881. On Questions of Meteorological Science 

and its Application. 

7. Committees appointed at the request of the De- 

partment of State. 

1866. On the Improvement of Greytown Har- 
bor, Nicaragua. 

1903. On the Eestoration of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

8. Committees appointed at the request of the De- 

partment of Agriculture. 
1870. On Silk Culture in the United States. 
1881. On Sorghum Sugar. 

9. Committees appointed at the request of the De- 

partment of the Interior. 

1880. On the Eestoration of the Declaration 
of Independence. 

1896. On the Inauguration of a Eational For- 
est Policy for the Forested Lands 
of the United States. 

It will be noticed that many of the ques- 
tions referred to the Academy are of such 
a nature that, at the present day, they 
could be satisfactorily answered by one or 
81 



another of the scientific departments of the 
government. This probably accounts for 
the fact that the requests for the Academy 's 
assistance have become less numerous as 
the national laboratories and scientific 
bureaus have multiplied and improved. 
But after full allowance has been made for 
such wholly desirable developments, it re- 
mains true that questions of broad scope, 
requiring the cooperation of authorities in 
several fields of knowledge for their solu- 
tion, must arise from time to time. In 
such cases the Academy can afford assist- 
ance obtainable in no other way, and an 
enlightened government will advantage- 
ously seek its counsel. 

The overthrow of the spoils system in 
national politics will afford the Academy 
another opportunity to serve the nation. 
In France, when a professorship in the na- 
tional university, or the directorship of a 
national observatory or laboratory falls 
vacant, the Academy of Sciences is re- 
quested to present its first and second 
choice of a successor. The Minister of Pub- 
lic Instruction then appoints one of the 
nominees to the position. In the United 

82 



States the need of such counsel is no less 
urgent than in France. 

MEDALS AND TRUST FUNDS 

Election to the National Academy has 
always been appreciated as a high honor 
by American men of science. Fortunately, 
however, the recognition and assistance the 
Academy has been able to afford to investi- 
gators has not been confined to the gift of 
this mark of distinction. From time to 
time trust funds have been established, the 
incomes of which are devoted to the award 
of medals or to grants for research. The 
will of Alexander Dallas Bache, first presi- 
dent of the Academy, directed that the 
residue of his estate, after the death of his 
wife, should be paid over to the National 
Academy of Sciences for the *' prosecution 
of researches in Physical and Natural Sci- 
ence by assisting experimentalists and ob- 
servers. '' Bache 's excellent example has 
often been followed, with the results shown 
in the following table. 

The importance of the part played by 
these funds in advancing science may be 
illustrated by reference to some of the re- 
sults obtained. 

83 



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a^ -^ 

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O 



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«4-l rg 

—. o 
eS-Q 

a s 

cu 

'o 

43 



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N3 '*-' 



O) o 






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P (U i^ O 



u !-» Of a 

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9.2 
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^•C o'*^ ^ ^--^ 



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000 

000 
000 

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LO -^ I-t 



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O rH O «0 O 

O CO o t>^ o 

O t^ O t^ o 

o <o o^co^o 



00 o 



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00 05 Oi rH r-( GO OO 
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84 



The Agassiz Fund has proved to be of 
great value in meeting the general expenses 
of the Academy, for which there was for- 
merly no provision except the dues of the 
members. 

The Bache Fund made twelve appropri- 
ations to Hilgard for his magnetic survey 
of the United States, four to Langley for 
his important studies of the physical con- 
stitution of the sun, six to Wolcott Gibbs 
for his researches on complex inorganic 
acids and his studies of the action of chem- 
ical compounds upon the animal system, 
one each to Newcomb and Michelson for 
their classic determinations of the veloc- 
ity of light, three others to Michelson for 
his equally fundamental optical researches, 
six to Rowland for his great work in map- 
ping and identifying the lines of the solar 
spectrum, three to Pickering for his pio- 
neer researches in stellar photography, two 
to Gould for his measurements of the Cor- 
doba photographs of the southern heavens, 
six to Boss for his studies of solar and 
stellar motions and his precise measures of 
standard stars, and two to Osborn for the 
work of the Academy Committee on Corre- 
lation. These cases include only a fraction 
85 



of the total number of grants from the 
fund. 

The Barnard Gold Medal for Meritorious 
Services to Science, awarded every five 
years by Columbia University to the nomi- 
nee of the National Academy, has been 
given to Rayleigh, Eontgen, Becquerel and 
Rutherford. 

The first award of the Comstock Prize of 
fifteen hundred dollars was made last 
April to Professor Robert Millikan, of the 
University of Chicago, for his researches 
on the charge of the electron and related 
investigations. 

The Henry Draper Gold Medal for astro- 
physical research has been awarded to 
Langley, Pickering, Rowland, Vogel, 
Keeler, Huggins, Hale, Campbell, Abbot 
and Deslandres. Several grants to assist 
investigation have also been made from the 
surplus income. 

The capital of the Wolcott Gibbs Fund 
for chemical research is being increased by 
additions of accumulated income, and no 
grants are being made at present. The in- 
come of the Marsh Fund is also being 
added to the capital. 

A large number of investigations have 

86 



been assisted by the Gould Fund, includ- 
ing those of Doolittle, Parkhurst, Yendell, 
Newcomb, Leavenworth, Comstock and 
others. At present the income is used 
mainly for the support of the Astronom- 
ical Journal. 

The Alexander Agassiz Gold Medal, es- 
tablished by Sir John Murray for oceano- 
graphic research, was awarded for the first 
time last April to Dr. Johan Hjort, of the 
Norwegian Fish Commission, for his val- 
uable contributions to knowledge relating 
to deep-sea life. 

The Lawrence Smith Gold Medal for the 
investigation of meteoric bodies has been 
awarded but once, to H. A. Newton, of 
Yale, for his researches on the orbits of 
meteors. Appropriations from the fund 
have supplied Yale University with appa- 
ratus for the photography of meteors, and 
provided for the publication of a catalogue 
of meteorites, for their chemical analysis 
and for the study of their luminous trains. 

The Watson Fund has aided the impor- 
tant work of Chandler on the variation of 
latitude, and that of Comstock on the con- 
stant of aberration, in addition to many 
other important grants. Since 1901 the 

87 



income has been very effectively used by 
Leuscliner in the computation of tbe per- 
turbations of the asteroids discovered by 
Watson. The Watson Gold Medal, with 
one hundred dollars in gold, has been 
awarded to Gould, Schonfeld, Auwers, 
Chandler, Gill and Kapteyn for their as- 
tronomical investigations. 

In view of its national charter, the high 
plane of its membership, and its special 
advantages as the representative of the 
United States in the International Associa- 
tion of Academies, the National Academy 
is most favorably qualified for the custody 
and efficient use of trust funds. Apprecia- 
tion of this fact, amply indicated by the 
above list of gifts and bequests, should 
grow with the reputation of the Academy. 
It is safe to predict that the privilege of 
securing the Academy's aid in the control 
and disbursement of large sums for the 
benefit of science will be widely sought in 
the future. In this connection attention 
should be called to the present lack of 
medals and funds especially devoted to 
the recognition and aid of researches in 
mathematics, engineering, geology and va- 
88 



rious departments of biology and anthro- 
pology. 

COOPERATION IN RESEARCH 

As an agent for the furtherance of co- 
operative research, the National Academy 
occupies a unique position among Ameri- 
can societies. In these days of far-reach- 
ing investigations, involving the common 
action of men of science distributed 
throughout the world, the great majority 
of cooperative projects are international 
in character. Here the peculiar advantage 
of the Academy appears. The Interna- 
tional Association of Academies is made 
up of the national academies of sixteen 
countries. Each academy is pledged to 
support only such cooperative undertak- 
ings as are endorsed by the association. 
Thus the constituent members of this body, 
through their delegates at its triennial 
meetings, are most favorably placed for 
the initiation and furtherance of such in- 
ternational movements. 

As an illustration of the work already 
undertaken by the National Academy in 
this field, mention may be made of the 
International Union for Cooperation in 
Solar Research. In 1904, the Academy, 



throTigli its Committee on Solar Research, 
invited various academies, physical and 
astronomical societies, and other organiza- 
tions interested in the subject, to send dele- 
gates to a conference, with a view to the 
initiation of international cooperation in 
this field. Meetings have since been held 
at Oxford in 1905, Paris in 1907, Mount 
Wilson in 1910 and Bonn in 1913. The 
constituent societies, each of which is rep- 
resented in the Union by a standing com- 
mittee, are as follows: 

The Royal Society of London, the Acad- 
emies of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, 
Paris, St. Petersburg, Stockholm and 
Vienna, the Swiss Society of Natural Sci- 
ences, the Astronomical Societies of Lon- 
don, America, France and Canada, the 
Physical Societies of Berlin, Italy, Spain, 
France and America, the Society of Italian 
Spectroscopists, the Solar Physics Com- 
mittee, the Solar Sub-committee of the In- 
ternational Meteorological Committee and 
the National Academy of Sciences. 

The standards of wave-length which are 
being established by the Union, as the re- 
sult of extensive cooperative studies, will 
be used universally by spectroscopists. In- 
ternational committees, appointed by the 
90 



Solar Union, are studying the solar rota- 
tion, the spectra of sun-spots and the in- 
tensity of the solar radiation, on a com- 
mon plan. Spectroheliographs are also in 
use, for the almost continuous photography 
of the sun, at the observatories of Kodai- 
kanal, India; Catania, Sicily; Potsdam, 
Germany; Meudon, France; Tortosa, 
Spain; Cambridge, England; Williams 
Bay, Wisconsin; Tacubaya, Mexico; and 
Mount Wilson, California. 

A new solar observatory, which is about 
to be established in New Zealand through 
the generosity of Mr. Thomas Cawthron, 
will fill the gap in longitude between Cali- 
fornia and India, and thus aid in keeping 
the rapidly changing phenomena of the 
solar atmosphere constantly under obser- 
vation. At the Mount Wilson meeting of 
the Union, it was decided to enlarge its 
scope so as to include the whole range of 
astrophysics, and a representative com- 
mittee was appointed to report on the 
classification of stellar spectra. It is now 
evident that the Solar Union is destined to 
play an increasingly important part in the 
field of international research. 

The Solar Union is one of the organiza- 
tions endorsed by the International As- 
91 



sociation of Academies, to which it makes 
regular- reports. Another of the interna- 
tional investigations conducted under the 
auspices of the association is that of the 
Brain Commission, the American Com- 
mittee of which is also closely related to 
the National Academy. 

The Committee on International Paleon- 
tologic Correlation, appointed by the Acad- 
emy in 1908, has recently completed its 
work. Aided by the Bache Fund, the com- 
mittee has pushed forward the important 
work of correlating the geologic forma- 
tions of Europe and America on the basis 
of their paleontologic contents. The re- 
sults have been published in a series of 
papers, by members of the committee, most 
of which treat of the mammals of the ter- 
tiary epoch and the formations which con- 
tain them in North America. Marsh and 
Cope dealt with the formation of the 
American Eocene as units, even when their 
thickness ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. 
These formational units have now been 
split up into sub-units, or life zones, 
usually distinguished by geologic discon- 
tinuity. At the same time there has been 
a marked increase in the precision of re- 
cording the succession of species in certain 

92 



formations which contain several levels of 
life zones, thus permitting exact compari- 
sons with other life zones to be instituted. 
The importance of such work is obvious in 
connection with the trend and rate of de- 
velopment in different parts of the world, 
the possibility of geographic intercourse at 
certain epochs, and the cycles of physio- 
graphic and climatic change. 

It is thus evident that the Academy is in 
a most favorable position to extend its oper- 
ations in the field of international research, 
where the advantages of its national and 
representative character are felt to the full, 
and the disadvantages of its scattered mem- 
bership are of minor importance. 

From this brief survey it appears that 
the National Academy of Sciences, in spite 
of many obstacles, has played an impor- 
tant part in the development of American 
science. The time is now favorable for an 
extension of its work into new fields, which 
must be occupied if the special opportuni- 
ties and obligations implied by the Acad- 
emy's national charter are to be fully 
realized. In a later article some of the 
possibilities of future progress will be con- 
sidered. 

93 



III. THE FUTURE OF THE NA- 
TIONAL ACADEMY OF 
SCIENCES^ 

In previous papers of this series* we 
have traced the development of European 
academies and observed the powerful in- 
fluence they have exercised on the advance- 
ment of research; we have watched the 
beginnings of scientific investigation in the 

1 This paper was presented at the Baltimore 
meeting of the National Academy in November, 
1913. By action of the council, a manuscript 
copy was subsequently sent by the home secretary 
to each member of the academy for criticism and 
comment. In preparing the paper for publica- 
tion, the author has had the advantage of seeing 
these replies. Except for a few minor verbal 
changes, the text is printed in its original form, 
with the addition of new paragraphs in square 
brackets. 

2 1." The Work of European Academies, ' ' 
Science, 38, 681, 1913. II. ''The First Half 
Century of the National Academy of Sciences,'* 
Science, 39, 189, 1914. 

94 



United States, and their public recognition 
by act of Congress establishing the National 
Academy of Sciences ; and we have followed 
the history of the Academy during the half 
century which has elapsed since its origin. 
In view of the great part which academies 
have played in the past, and the fact that 
the rapid development of original research 
in this country has carried us out of the 
pioneer period, the National Academy now 
faces an exceptional opportunity to impress 
its influence upon the future scientific 
work of the United States. But if it enjoys 
an opportunity, it also faces a duty, im- 
posed upon it by its national charter and 
by its position as the sole representative of 
America in the International Association 
of Academies. The history of the Acad- 
emy shows that it has taken its obligations 
seriously, by complying with requests from 
the executive and legislative departments 
of the government for advice on scientific 
matters, by the use of trust funds for the 
advancement of research, by the award of 
prizes and grants for investigation, by the 
initiation and support of international co- 
operation in research, and by such other 
95 



means as its limited endowment has per- 
mitted. But while the rapid growth of the 
scientific bureaus of the government has 
reduced the number of questions which 
would otherwise be submitted to the Acad- 
emy, the enormous increase in the wealth 
of the country, and the expansion of its 
trade relations have raised new problems 
and advanced new opportunities. These 
developments, which have resulted in the 
multiplication of universities, observatories 
and laboratories, and the foundation of 
great endowments for research, place the 

Academy in a new position, and impose the 
question whether it can not now accomplish 
much more than was formerly possible. It 
is the purpose of this paper to open the 
discussion of this question, in the hope that 
its further consideration by other members 

may lead to an extension of the work and 
usefulness of the Academy. 

Fortunately we may take advantage of 
the rich store of experience accumulated 
by the European academies during their 
long histories. In seeking to adapt this to 
our own needs, we must of course recognize 
C the special conditions existing in the United 
States. The great area over which our 
96 



O members are distributed and the lack of any- 
such centralization as we see in London or 
in Paris, will always stand in the way of 
weekly meetings like those of the Royal 
Society and the Paris Academy. But if 
we can not hope to see our leading inves- 
tigators personally demonstrate each step 
in their progress before academic audi- 
ences, as Faraday and Pasteur and many 
another have done abroad, we can never- 
theless provide for lectures and papers 
illustrated by experiments in connection 
with the semi-annual meetings of the Acad- 
emy, and possibly for others of a public 
character, extending throughout the year, 
after the manner of the Royal Institution 
of London. (The disadvantage of our mem- 
bers in being unable to read accounts of 
their latest advances before weekly meet- 
ings of their colleagues can also be largely 
offset by the publication of Proceedings, 
in which the first results of all new work 
may be adequately presented. Thus, 
though we lack some of the advantages of 
centralization, these may be largely over- 
come, while retaining the very great ad- 
vantage of a widely distributed membership 

97 



representing the scientific interests of every 
section of the country. 

FUNCTIONS OP A NATIONAL ACADEMY 

The criticism has sometimes been directed 
against academies covering the whole range 
of knowledge that their place has been 
sufficiently filled by the special societies 
devoted to particular branches of science. 

/o For more than a century the Eoyal Society 
and the Paris Academy served all the pur- 
poses of science in Great Britain and 
France, but toward the end of the eight- 

£)eenth century special societies began to 
develop in England. The establishment of 
the Linnean Society in 1788 did not appear 
to give special concern to the members of 
the Royal Society. But when the Geolog- 

; ical Society was instituted in 1807, Sir 
Joseph Banks, then President of the Eoyal 
Society, united with Sir Humphry Davy 
and others in a strenuous attempt to amal- 
gamate it with the parent body. The Eoyal 
Astronomical Society was established in 
1820, partly as the result of the accumula- 
tion of valuable observations too extensive 
for the Eoyal Society to publish. Sir 
Joseph, though he had himself aided in the 

98 



establishment of the Linnean Society, was 
o greatly perturbed at this further develop- 
ment. A short time later he died in the 
belief that the special societies had struck 
"^ a severe blow at the respectability and use- 
fulness of the Royal Society, by robbing it 
of many of its members and laying claim to 
some of its most important departments.^ 
But his fears were wholly unwarranted, 
and the special societies continued to grow 
and multiply, to the advantage of science 
and of the Royal Society itself. Their ex- 
tensive publications have not detracted from 
the volume or the quality of the Philosoph- 
ical Transactions and the Proceedings, and 
each of these societies, by contributing to 
the development of some special field, has 
helped to build up that great organization 
o of British science of which the Royal Soci- 
ety is the acknowledged and venerated head. 
These details will not be out of place if 
they help to emphasize a principle which 
should always be respected in the work of 
the National Academy. The societies and 
journals which have been established to 

3 Barrow, * ' Sketches of the Eoyal Society, ^ ' 
pp. 10, 256; Weld, "History of the Eoyal So- 
ciety,'' pp. 242, 246. 



meet the needs of scientific progress have 
come to stay. It is neither necessary nor 
in any way desirable to usurp their func- 
tions, which are the result of a natural 
process of evolution. There is ample room, 
however, for academies devoted to the 
whole range of science. The rapid advance 
of research in a thousand ramifying fields 
has left much intermediate territory un- 
explored. The approach to these undevel- 
oped regions may be made from more than 
one direction, and through the aid of more 
than one method. Thus nothing can be 
more stimulating to the progress of re- 
search than an acquaintance with the in- 
vestigations and processes which are con- 
stantly being developed in fields other than 
one's own. Mathematics has received its 
principal impulses from astronomy and 
physics. Physical chemistry is indebted, 
on the one hand, to Pf effer the botanist for 
the study of vegetable cells, and on the 
other to the mathematical and physical in- 
vestigations of Willard Gibbs, Van der 
Waals and Arrhenius. Astrophysics came 
into existence through the use in astronomy 
of the spectroscope and other physical in- 
struments. Every department of science 
100 



sheds a luster which should illuminate, not 
only its particular territories, but others, 
near and far, occupied by other workers. 
The importance of recognizing and utiliz- 
ing this fact must therefore increase as time 
goes on. 

[It has been truly said that an academy 
can hope to accomplish large results only 
as it succeeds in meeting the conditions of 
the present rather than those of the past. 
What are existing conditions in science? 
Surely none is more striking than the con- 
traction of the field of the average inves- 
tigator. Specialization is inevitable in the 
maze of modem progress, and the narrow- 
ing effect of constant devotion to a single 
subject must become still more apparent 
as science ramifies further. A general 
academy, by insisting on the importance of 
large relationships, by demonstrating the 
unity of knowledge, by recognizing the fact 
that fundamental methods of research, 
wherever developed, are likely to be appli- 
cable in more than one department, can do 
much to broaden and to stimulate its mem- 
bers. The correlation of research should 
be counted as one of its prime objects, and 
101 



its energies should be largely directed to 
this important end.] 

We are thus led to the conclusion that 
the functions of a National Academy should 
be of the broadest character, and that the 
advantage of sharing in the results of all 
its departments should belong to every 
member. Thus the policy of our National 
Academy of avoiding division, into separate 
sections,* and of bringing papers on the 
most diverse subjects before the entire body, 
is fundamentally sound and. should be 
maintained. Later in this paper the ques- 
tion will be considered whether the range 
of the Academy's activities should be ex- 
tended so as to give increased recognition 
^ to departments of knowledge other than the 
physical and natural sciences. 

Under the conditions now existing in the 
United States, there is reason to believe 
that the functions of the National Academy 
might well be multiplied so as to meet a 
wide variety of needs. It should stand, 
first of all, as a leading source and sup- 
porter of original research and as the na- 
tional representative of the great body of 
American investigators in science. To the 

* Except for voting purposes. 
102 



government it should make itself necessary 
by the high standard of its work, the broad 
range of its endeavors, and the sane and 
scientific spirit underlying all of its actions. 
To its members it should offer stimulus and 
encouragement in their investigations; due 
recognition of their advances; financial 
assistance and the use of instruments at 
critical periods in their work; the advan- 
tage of listening to papers ranging over the 
whole field of science, bearing suggestions 
of principles or methods likely to develop 
new ideas ; contact with the greatest leaders 
of research from all countries and oppor- 
tunities to listen to descriptions of their 
work ; access to books and manuscripts not 
easily obtainable from other sources; and 
participation in international cooperative 
projects in every field of investigation. In 
the public mind it should rank as the na- 
tional exponent of science, and as the 
agency best qualified to bring forward and 
illustrate the latest advances of its own 
members and of the scientific world at 
large. To representatives of manufactures 
and industries, the Academy should serve 
to promote the appreciation and widespread 
use of the scientific principles and methods 

103 



which have built up the great industrial 
prosperity of Germany. With other soci- 
eties devoted to various branches of science, 
it should cooperate in harmony with the 
best interests of American research. To- 
ward local bodies for the encouragement 
of investigation and the diffusion of knowl- 
edge, it should act as an inspiring example 
and a reliable source of support. And in 
the broad field of international cooperation, 
it should unite with the leading academies 
of the world in the endeavor to perfect the 
organization of research and in the use of 
all agencies contributing to its advance- 
ment. 

NEEDS OF THE ACADEMY 

Many of these objects have been accom- 
plished by the National Academy in the 
past, but others remain for the future. The 
greatest aid in accomplishing its full work 
would be met by the provision of a suitable 
academy building, and an endowment suffi- 
cient to publish Proceedings, conduct re- 
search, provide public lectures, maintain 
exhibits illustrating current investigations, 
and to meet such additional needs as are 
implied by the Academy's national charter 

104 



and its obligations to the scientific world 
and the general public. Through the cour- 
tesy of the Smithsonian Institution, ex- 
tended in the year of the academy 's organi- 
zation, the annual meetings are held in the 
National Museum, in rooms ordinarily em- 
ployed for other purposes. Thus the Acad- 
emy does not even possess a permanent 
office, or a room for its library, which will 
be needed in the future for its work of re- 
search. It has therefore been compelled 
from the outset to decline many offers of 
books, and thus a large and valuable collec- 
tion, comprising publications offered by 
many of the great academies, laboratories 
and observatories of the world, has been 
lost.^ 

It is difficult to overestimate the value of 
a suitable building in commanding public 
appreciation and support for any institu- 
tion. Visible evidence of the Academy's 
existence is a matter of no small impor- 
tance, when it is remembered that the 
average American citizen, though well- 
acquainted with the name of the Paris 

5 The Academy has accepted some gifts of 
books, which are packed away (unbound) in the 
Btorerooms of the Smithsonian Institution. 
105 



Academy through press reports of dis- 
coveries announced there, has never heard 
of our own national organization. But 
a building used as a storehouse and occu- 
pied but once a year is not enough. The 
Academy must be known as a living and 
active body, which recognizes and fulfills 
its many duties to science and the public. 
If its headquarters were constantly em- 
ployed for such purposes as are enumerated 
later, the Academy would soon be looked 
upon as the natural source of information 
regarding the latast developments of sci- 
ence, and more generally recognized as the 
national representative of American re- 
search. 

IMPORTANCE OP PUBLISHING PROCEEDINGS 

As explained in a previous paper, the 
name of the National Academy has never 
been associated with the work of its mem- 
bers, since the papers read at its meetings 
have not been published by the Academy. 
Thus it has not been sufficiently identified 
with the progress of American research, 
and the chief source of the reputation of 
the Paris Academy and the Royal Society 
has been lacking. But though the Academy 

106 



would become more widely known by the 
publication of Proceedings, it would be 
foolish to take such a step merely to accom- 
plish this purpose. The establishment of 
a new journal, in these days when the litera- 
ture of science has become exceedingly com- 
plex, should never be undertaken without 
serious consideration of its probable use- 
fulness. If it fulfills no good and lasting 
purpose, its life will be deservedly short. 
Hence we may not imitate the example of 
societies which established their publica- 
tions before the special journals had taken 
the field. We must recognize, on the one 
hand, that the various journals devoted to 
particular branches of science meet a 
clearly defined need and should not be 
rivaled, even to the apparent advantage of 
the Academy. On the other hand, we must 
also remember that the members of the 
Academy have adopted a regular plan of 
publication, the interruption of which 
might interfere with the accessibility of 
their papers. Thus, if Proceedings are to 
be established, they should be so planned 
as to serve a useful scientific end and be 
distinctly advantageous, not merely to the 
Academy itself, but to all of its members. 

107 



I am strongly of the opinion that no 
step which can be taken at the present time 

t) would be so beneficial to the National Acad- 
emy as the publication of Proceedings con- 
taining the first announcements of impor- 
tant advances and the chief results of 
American research. I believe, further- 
more, that this can be done in such a 
way as to benefit the members and con- 
tribute to the advancement of science. In 
many departments of the Academy's work 
papers published in the special American 
journals of limited foreign circulation do 
not reach a sufficiently large group of 
European readers. I am told that this is 

particularly true in biology, where Amer- 
ican investigators are producing a great 
body of results of the first importance. 
Thus the Proceedings of the Academy, if 
properly distributed, might be made to 
serve the very useful purpose of bringing 
the work of a large number of investigators 
to the attention of scholars abroad. But 
in order to preserve all interests, and to 
interfere in the least degree with present 
plans of publication, the Proceedings 
should not be designed to occupy such a 
place as the special journals adequately fill. 
108 



[The chief advantage of the Proceedings 
would not be the same in all departments of 
science. In mathematics, where the exist- 
ing journals are greatly overcrowded, 
prompt publication of the condensed re- 
sults of new research would be heartily wel- 
comed. The same thing is true in botany 
and in many other subjects. In fact, im- 
proved means of prompt publication would 
be generally appreciated by Academy mem- 
bers. In biology, as already remarked, the 
great number of special journals prevents 
many of them from reaching European 
laboratories, where American research is 
frequently overlooked as a consequence. 
In astronomy -and astrophysics, which have 
fewer journals, the circulation of the chief 
American journals is large, and their con- 
tents reach all astronomers abroad. But 
the practise of publishing separate series 
of circulars or bulletins, which has been 
adopted by many American observatories, 
confines the circulation of their papers to 
the limited number of astronomers and ob- 
servatories on their mailing lists. If brief 
accounts of the broader aspects of these in- 
vestigations were printed by the Academy, 
they would be useful to astronomers making 

109 



a general survey of progress in their own 
field. But they would be even more service- 

able to the mathematician, physicist, 
meteorologist, chemist, geologist or other 
investigator who may find information of 
direct or suggestive value in the results of 
astronomical research. Conversely, even 
those astronomers who keep in touch with 
progress in mathematics or physics can not 
also examine the numerous journals of 
chemistry, geology and other subjects which 
contain results applicable in their own 
work. It will thus be seen that the Acad- 
emy could perform an important service in 
its special province of correlating knowl- 
edge by publishing papers covering the 

^ whole range of science. 

The value of the Proceedings in strength- 
ening the position of American science at 
home and abroad should not be overlooked. 
The rapid progress of American research 
in a single field may be known to the Euro- 
pean specialist, but he may not realize that 
similar advances in other departments have 
raised American science to a new level. 
Recognition of this fact is desirable, not 
for the gratification of national pride, but 
because the international influence of 

110 



America in science will grow with its pres- 
tige. The combination of effort which the 
Proceedings would represent, and the dem- 
onstration they would afford of American 
activity in research, are factors of real 
significance in securing that recognition 
and standing, both at home and abroad, 
which is needed to accelerate future prog- 
ress.] 

To accomplish the desired result, it would 
seem that the Proceedings should be inter- 
mediate in character between the Comptes 
Rendus of the Paris Academy and the Pro- 
ceedings of the Royal Society. Papers read 
before the Paris Academy on Monday are 
printed and issued in the Comptes Bendus 
on the following Saturday — a record for 
speed which we should not expect to rival. 
Such accelerated publication, while it 
doubtless possesses certain advantages, 
renders impossible that more leisurely 
editorial examination which most journals 
demand. The Proceedings of the Eoyal 
Society, on the other hand, appear at irreg- 
ular intervals, and frequently contain long 
and detailed papers, which with us might 
better find a place in the special journals. 
In the case of the National Academy it is 
111 



doubtful whether publication at shorter 
intervals than one month is necessary, but 
the possible advantages of fortnightly pub- 
lication should be carefully considered. 

It goes without saying that papers for the 
Proceedings, while comparatively brief (per- 
haps averaging from three to five pages), 
should not be hasty announcements based 
on inadequate data. On the contrary, the 
dignity of the National Academy and the 
best interests of its members demand that 
only carefully matured conclusions, re- 
sulting from prolonged observational or 
theoretical research, should appear under 
the Academy's imprint. Measures and 
other exact data needed to establish these 
conclusions would be a necessary part of 
such papers, though long numerical tables, 
profuse illustrations, and detailed accounts 
of minor topics should be reserved for pub- 
lication in the special journals, to which 
members would continue to contribute as 
before. The Academy Proceedings would 
thus serve for the first announcement of 
discoveries and of the more important con- 
tributions to research, illustrated by line 
cuts and occasional halftones in the text, 
when essential to clearness, but free from 
112 



unnecessary detail and extensive numerical 
data. Non-members, as well as members, 
should be invited to contribute, with the 
understanding that their papers are to be 
presented by a member of the Academy, as 
in the case of the Paris Academy and the 
Eoyal Society.^ 

The constitution of the National Acad- 
emy already provides for the issue of Pro- 
ceedings, as well as Memoirs and Annual 
Reports. In fact, as explained in a previ- 
ous paper, three numbers of Proceedings 
were published, though they did not contain 
papers presented to the Academy. There is 

6 The Proceedings should be so planned as to 
interfere in the least possible degree with the 
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 
which is a publication similar in character to the 
one here proposed. As the Journal is devoted 
mainly to work done in Washington, or presented 
before the various Washington societies (other 
than the National Academy), no important over- 
lapping of the two publications need be antici- 
pated, especially as members of this Academy 
have rarely contributed to the Journal. 

7 [The Academy voted, at its meeting of No- 
vember, 1913, to begin the publication of Pro- 
ceedings as soon as arrangements could be per- 
fected. The first number will appear in January, 
1915.] 

113 



therefore no need of any radical departure 
requiring amendment of the constitution. 
In other words, if sufficient funds are 
available, this very important step toward 
the development of the Academy can be 
taken by simple affirmative vote.'' 

The annual volumes of the Proceedings, 
bringing together for the first time the best 
product of American research, would place 
the Academy in a clearer light before the 
academic world. Annual Reports and 
infrequent volumes of Memoirs receive 
scant attention, except from a few special- 
ists, in the libraries of our contemporary 
societies. But the Proceedings, published 
at regular intervals, and containing a stand- 
ing notice of the Academy's publications, 
would aid in making them better known. 
The quarto Memoirs, eleven volumes of 
which have already appeared, afford an ex- 
cellent place for extended publication, 
when the necessity for lengthy tables, nu- 
merous plates, or long discussions of data 
places the manuscript beyond the reach of 
the special journals. The publication of 
the Proceedings might serve to disclose 
much material worthy of use in the Me- 
moirs, and the editorial board should be 
114 



constantly on the watch for opportunities 
to extend the Memoirs and to render them 
more serviceable to science. 

SCIENCE AND THE PUBLIC 

The circulation of the Proceedings would 
necessarily be limited to scholars and schol- 
arly institutions — they could not be ex- 
pected to reach the general public. Here 
a difficulty remains to be overcome, since 
the results of original investigations should 
certainly be made more generally known 
and more clearly understood than they are 
at the present time. The average man of 
science, after sad experience with the daily 
press, is usually forced to the conclusion 
that newspaper publication is synonymous 
with rank sensationalism. Repeatedly told, 
and not without justice, that his cloistered 
wisdom should reach a wider world, he 
sometimes yields to the persistent demands 
of a reporter. The outcome is too well 
known to require telling. Even in the case 
of a really intelligent and conscientious re- 
porter, who does not distort or exaggerate, 
the "headline man'' may be depended 
upon to provide a grotesque disguise. A 
few experiences of this sort suffice for most 

115 



investigators. They are soon forced to shut 
out the reporter, and are well pleased when 
they succeed. Yet they recognize that the 
exclusion of the public from all contact 
with their work is neither fair nor desirable. 
Some way should be found of bridging the 
gap. 

A plan followed in England by the Royal 
Society, of circulating brief abstracts on 
the day when a paper is read, which are 
afterwards published in Nature (sometimes 
in condensed form) , is one which we might 
advantageously imitate. When a paper is 
accepted by the editorial board for pub- 
lication in the Proceedings, a brief ab- 
stract, preferably prepared by the author, 
should be sent to Science (and perhaps 
also to Nature). At the same time this 
abstract, or a briefer one in less technical 
language, might be communicated to the 
Associated Press. It goes without saying 
that papers for the Proceedings would 
differ widely in their availability for pop- 
ular treatment. Probably only a compara- 
tively small proportion of them would con- 
tain results suitable for use by the Asso- 
ciated Press, but all would doubtless be 
published in abstract by Scienoe. 

116 



Through the Associated Press, and also 
through certain conservative newspapers 
and magazines, the Academy could thus 
bring before the public the actual results 
of scientifie research, as distinguished from 
the false and distorted conceptions of sci- 
ence which most of our newspapers now 
disseminate. 

LECTURES ON RESEARCH 

The plan of publication outlined above 
is but one of several methods by which the 
Academy may enlarge its usefulness. Pub- 
lic lectures should also be instituted, pri- 
marily for the benefit of the Academy mem- 
bers, but also with the expectation of 
reaching a larger circle. Here the Academy 
would do well to study and imitate the 
O 'Royal Institution of London, where original 
research and the diffusion of knowledge 
are combined in a very effective manner. 
In brilliant addresses, illustrated by lan- 
tern slides and experiments, a long line of 
illustrious speakers, best typified by Fara- 
day, have charmed and enlightened the 
most distinguished audiences. Many of 
these speakers, including Davy, Faraday, 
T3mdaU, Dewar, Rayleigh and Thomson, 
117 



have been drawn from the staff of the 
Royal Institution. But their English con- 
temporaries, as well as scientific men from 
all parts of Europe and the United States, 
have also been invited to describe their 
latest advances. The speaker at a '* Friday- 
Evening Discourse ' ' is faced by the leaders 
of English thought and action in many 
fields. Privileged to select from the large 
collection of historic instruments accumu- 
lated during a century, and even to illus- 
trate his points with the apparatus of Fara- 
day himself, he feels an inspiration that 
no other platform affords. In such an 
atmosphere he learns to appreciate the dig- 
nity of popular science at its best, and to 
perceive how the busiest and most success- 
ful of present-day physicists can find time 
to deliver elaborate courses of Christmas 
lectures to a juvenile audience. These lec- 
tures, instituted by Faraday, are now in 
their eighty-seventh season. Under such 
topics as ''The Chemistry of Flame" they 
have afforded him and his followers an op- 
portunity to show how simply and beauti- 
fully the principles of science can be made 
to appeal even to young children.^ The 
8 The last course of Christmas Juvenile Lec- 
118 



art of the popular lecture should be devel- 
oped in the United States by the National 
Academy. Under its auspices, and with 
the example of the Royal Institution be- 
hind him, the lecturer need not fear for 
his dignity. The Academy would soon find 
its reward in the increasing appreciation 
of its work and purposes, the spread of 
scientific knowledge, and ultimately in 
larger endowments for research. 

As a first step in this direction, the chil- 
dren of the late William EUery Hale have 
established a course of lectures in memory 
of their father. Their object in doing so 
is twofold. In the first place, if is hoped 
that the lectures may add to the attractive- 
ness of the Academy meetings, both to the 
members and the public. Again, it is be- 
lieved that by a suitable choice of lecturers 
and topics, the inter-relationship of the 
various fields of research represented in 
the Academy, and the light thrown by the 
methods of investigation or of interpreta- 
tion employed in one field upon those of 
another, may be illustrated in an effective 

tures, on ' ' Alchemy, " *' Atoms, " ' ' Light, ' ^ 
*' Clouds,'' *' Meteorites " and *' Frozen Worlds," 
was given by Sir James Dewar. 
119 



way. Moreover, the lectures will afford an 
opportunity of testing whether the Academy 
may not further assist in increasing public 
appreciation of the cultural and the indus- 
trial value of science. 

SCIENCE IN EDUCATION 

In the Academy of Plato and the Alex- 
andrian Museum the functions of an acad- 
emy and a university were united, and the 
work of instruction went hand in hand with 
the development of new knowledge. The 
growth of the modem university has now 
removed from national academies their 
former work of teaching a body of students, 
but their opportunity to exert a favorable 
influence on the educational methods of 
the nation remains. The Institute of 
France, as planned by Talleyrand and Con- 
dorcet,^ was to control public instruction 
and offer courses to advanced students. 
This was not carried out, but an instance 
of the same sort is afforded by the Acad- 
emy of Munich, which has charge of the 
public instruction of Bavaria. 

s See Hippeau, '' L 'instruction publique en 
Prance pendant la revolution," Vol. 1, pp. 115, 
228. 

120 



^ There is no apparent reason why our own 
National Academy should have a formal 
connection with educational institutions. 
But in harmony with its purpose to advance 
knowledge in the United States, it should 
contribute toward the development of the 
science of education and take advantage of 
the possibility of increasing public appre- 
ciation of the educational value of science. 
In a presidential address which excited 
great public interest in England, Sir Wil- 

liam Huggins emphasized before the Royal 
Society the importance of science in educa- 
tion.^^ We need not dwell upon his argu- 
ments regarding the value of scientific 
training in developing the power of accu- 
rate observation and the habit of correct 
and cautious reasoning. But a more 
neglected phase of science in education — 
its power of awakening and expanding the 
imaginative faculty — ^may be referred to in 
his own words: 

Surelj the master-creations of poetry, music, 

sculpture and painting, alike in mystery and 

grandeur, can not surpass the natural epics and 

scenes of the heavens above and of the earth be- 

. neath, in their power of firing the imagination, 

10 Huggins, ^'The Eoyal Society,^' p. 109. 
121 



wMel. indeed has taken its most daring and en- 
during flights under the earlier and simpler con- 
ditions of human life, when men lived in closer 
contact -with Nature, and in greater quiet, free 
from the deadening rush of modern soeietj. Of 
supreme value is the exercjse of the imagination, 
that lofty faculty of creating and weaving 
imagery in the mind, and of giving subjective 
reality to its own creations, which is the source of 
the initial impulses to human progress and de- 
velopment, to all inspiration in the arts, and to 
discovery in science. 

Of all the teachings of science, the prin- 
ciple of evolution makes by far the strong- 
est appeal to the imagination. Isolated 
phenomena, however remarkable, acquire 
a new meaning when seen in its light. 
Minute details of structure in animals or 
plants, slight differences of the relative 
intensity of lines in the spectra of stars, 
may become of intense interest even to the 
elementary student if explained as steps 
in a great process of development. But 
after all that has been said and written 
since the time of Darwin, we fail to take 
full advantage of our opportunity. Prop- 
erly presented, a picture of evolution in its 
broadest aspects would serve better than any 
other agency to stimulate the imagination, 

122 



to awaken interest in science, and to demon- 
strate that its cultural value is in no wise 
inferior to that of the humanities. To the 
average student, even physics and chemis- 
try are distinct branches of science, each 
occupied with its own problems. Astron- 
omy, he knows, concerns itself with the 
heavenly bodies, botany with plants, zool- 
ogy with animals. But if he studies these 

subjects at all, he almost invariably fails 
to realize their relationship, because no 
binding principle, like that of evolution, is 
brought prominently to his attention or, at 
the best, is restricted in its application to 
some single organic or inorganic field. 

When Humboldt wrote ''Cosmos" and 
Huxley lectured on *'A Piece of Chalk" 
and other subjects, they showed what might 

D be accomplished in picturing the problems 
of science in a broad way. The National 
Academy is better qualified than any other 
body in America to demonstrate what can 
be done in the same direction with the rich 
store of knowledge acquired since their time. 
A course of lectures on evolution, beginning 
with an account of the constitution of mat- 
ter, the transformation of the elements, 
and the electron theory ; picturing the heav- 
123 



enly bodies and the structure of the uni- 
verse, the evolution of stars and planets, 
and the origin of the earth; outlining the 
various stages of the earth's history, the 
formation and changes of its surface fea- 
tures, the beginning and development of 
plant and animal life; explaining modern 
biological problems, the study of variation 
and mutation, and the various theories of 
organic evolution ; summarizing our knowl- 
edge of earliest man, his first differentiation 
from anthropoid ancestors, and the crude 
origins of civilization ; and connecting with 
our own day by an account of early Orien- 
tal peoples, the rise of the Egyptian dy- 
nasties, and their influence on modem 
progress: such a course, free from techni- 
calities and unnecessary details, richly 
illustrated by lantern slides and experi- 
ments, and woven together into a clear 
and homogeneous whole, would serve to 
give the average student a far broader view 
of evolution than he now obtains, and leave 
no doubt in the hearer's mind as to the cul- 
tural and imaginative value of science. 

The "William Ellery Hale lectures will 
open with a series on evolution, so designed 
as to be of interest to members of the Acad- 

124 



emy, and at the same time to be intelligible 
and attractive to the public. At each 
meeting two lectures will be given by a 
distinguished European or American inves- 
tigator, chosen because of his competence to 
deal with some branch of the subject. The 
first course of lectures, to be given by Sir 
Ernest Rutherford at the annual meeting 
in April, 1914, will deal with the consti- 
tution of matter and the evolution of the 
elements.^^ At the conclusion of this series, 
which will extend through several years, 
it is hoped that the lectures may be brought 
together, in a homogeneous and perhaps 
somewhat simplified form, into a small 
volume suitable for use in schools. 

The course above outlined will serve to 
test the question whether the Academy may 
advantageously enter more extensively into 
the lecture field. So far as the members of 
the Academy are concerned, it seems prob- 
able that lectures by able American and 
European investigators would add to the 
interest of the meetings. But the value of 

11 [The second course was given at the autumn 
meeting by Dr. William Wallace Campbell on 
''Stellar Evolution and the Formation of the 
Earth. ' '] 

125 



the lectures to the general public can only 
be determined by experiment. If a suitable 
building can be obtained, and the success 
of these lectures is sufficient to warrant it, 
the foremost investigators, American and 
foreign, might be invited from time to time 
throughout the year to describe and illus- 
trate their advances in the lecture-hall of 
the Academy. This plan is already followed 
by various American institutions, but the 
Academy, because of its national character, 
would be better able to attract the best men 
and to give their lectures more than local 
significance. Ample facilities for experi- 
mental illustration would also go far to- 
ward enhancing the value of the lectures. 
In short, the example of the Royal Insti- 
tution should be followed £is closely as 
possible.^2 

INDUSTRIAL RESEAECH 

The value of science to the American 
manufacturer, though no new theme, is 
capable of wide development at the hands 
of the National Academy. In a presidential 

12 [It has been suggested by several members 
that these lectures might be repeated in two or 
three large cities, in cooperation with local scien- 
tific institutions.] 

126 



address delivered before the Royal Society 

■t) in 1902, Sir William Huggins dwelt on the 
''Supreme Importance of Science to the 
Industries of the Country, which can be 
secured only through making Science an 
Essential Part of all Education." He saw 

y'the fruits of English discoveries passing 
into the hands of Germany, whose univer- 
sities have so long fostered and spread 
abroad the spirit of research, and won- 

~" dered at the apathy of the average British 
manufacturer toward scientific methods. 
Huggins, speaking in plain language, 
pointed to the chief source of weakness — 

'Hhe too close adherence of our older uni- 
versities, and through them of our public 
schools, and all other schools in the country 
downward, to the traditional methods of 
teaching of medieval times. "^^ 

r. In this country, where the classics do 
not dominate the university system, the 
task of arousing an adequate appreciation 
of the enormous benefits which sci- 
ence can render is a far easier one. We 
must have, first of all, a widespread inter- 
est in science and some comprehension of 
its problems and methods. A general 
13 ''The Royal Society,'' p. 29. 
127 



course on evolution, given to all college 
students, should be of great service as an 
entering wedge. More students might thus 
be led to take science courses, while those 
who specialize in the humanities could gain 
a better conception of what science means. 
The rapid development of research in our 
universities and technical schools promises 
to influence the faculties of our colleges, 
where a man's success as a teacher will be 
materially enhanced if he is also a producer 
of new knowledge. Thus the future is 
promising in the educational field. 

On the side of our manufacturers, who 
are eager to adopt the most efficient meth- 
ods, the outlook is equally favorable, as 
President Little of the American Chemical 
Society showed so effectively in his address on 
* ' Industrial Eesearch in America. ' '^* Many 
great firms are establishing large research 
laboratories, where problems of all kinds 
are under investigation. The development 
within the past few years of Taylor's effi- 
ciency system is another indication that the 
advantages of scientific methods are being 
grasped and applied in the arts. But the 
opportunities in this direction are almost 

14 Science, 38, pp. 643-656, 1913. 
128 



endless, and the National Academy would 
do well to devise ways and means of con- 
vincing not only the large manufacturers, 
but the small manufacturers as well, of the 
industrial importance of scientific research. 
Lectures on recent advances in engineer- 
ing, by European and American leaders, 
should have a powerful influence if care- 
fully planned and effectively illustrated. 
Parsons on the steam turbine,^^ Marconi on 
wireless telegraphy,^^ Goethals on the Pan- 
ama Canal, would attract large audiences 
and appeal in published form to a wide 
public. 

But while the advantages resulting from 
ingenuity and invention and the best prac- 
tise of engineering should certainly be 
brought out in the course of lectures I now 
have in mind, the improvement of manu- 
factured products by research methods, and 
the potential industrial value of pure sci- 
ence are the points which should be empha- 
sized. We have a long way to go before 
any single manufacturing firm employs 
seven hundred qualified chemists, as the 
combined chemical factories of Elberfeld, 
Ludwigshafen and Treptow do. The su- 

15 Lectures before the Royal Institution, 1911. 
129 



premacy in tins field of Germany, which 
produced chemicals valued at $3,750,000,000 
in 1907, is directly due to the carefully 
directed research of an army of chemists, 
who learned the methods of investigation 
in the universities and technical schools.^* 
The Berlin Academy of Sciences has also 
contributed in an important way to this re- 
sult, through van't Hoff 's investigations of 
the Stassfurth salt deposits. The recent 
rapid development of our own chemical 
industries leads us to hope that similar 
advances may soon be achieved in the 
United States. In electrical engineering, 
at least, we are already making comparable 
progress. 

But the average man of business is much 
better able to appreciate the value of re- 
search directly applied to the improvement 
of manufactures than to comprehend the 
more fundamental importance of pure sci- 
ence. We must show how the investiga- 
tions of Faraday, pursued for the pure love 
of truth and apparently of no commercial 

16 In 1910 the Not el prize for chemistry went 
to Germany for the sixth time, thus giving to a 
single country sixty per cent, of aU the Nobel 
prizes for chemistry awarded up to that date. 
130 



value, nevertheless laid the foundations of 
electrical engineering. If we can dissemi- 
nate such knowledge, which is capable of 
the easiest demonstration and the most 
striking illustration, we can multiply the 
friends of pure science and secure new and 
larger endowments for physics, chemistry 
and other fundamental subjects. 

[While there can be no doubt of the im- 
portance of emphasizing the value of in- 
dustrial research, the necessity of vigilance 
in the interests of pure science is shown by 
the opposite tendency of several recent 
writers, who measure science solely in 
terms of its applicability in the arts. 

The stimulus of commercial rivalry is 
doubtless a factor in the rapid progress of 
our great industrial laboratories, but I 
doubt if their directors would maintain 
that all chemical research should be of the 
industrial kind. Immediate commercial 
value as a criterion of success will not 
often point the way to the discovery of 
fundamental laws, though these are by far 
the richest source of ultimate achievement, 
practical as well as theoretical. Modern 
electrical engineers do not forget the inves- 
tigations of Faraday and Hertz in pure sci- 

131 



ence, nor do leading industrial chemists 
overlook the researches of G-ibbs, van't Hoff, 
and others, which brought them no practical 
returns, but rendered many modern indus- 
tries possible. jExclusive attention to in- 
dustrial research means nothing more or 
less than the growth of the superstructure 
at the expense of the foundations. In- 
dustrial laboratories are able to offer large 
salaries and other tempting promises of 
material advantages, and thus to draw the 
most promising men from the universities. 
But while these laboratories should he 
strongly encouraged, and multiplied to the 
point where every small manufacturer will 
realize the value of research methods, this 
should not be done at the serious expense of 
pure science. Germany's success on the 
industrial side is primarily due to her still 
greater achievements in the university 
laboratories. The National Academy, by 
helping to maintain the two phases of 
American research in stable equilibrium, 
can perform a service which the truest ad- 
vocates of applied science will recognize as 
essential to sound progress.] 



132 



USES OF AN ACADEMY BUILDING 

In addition to experimental and illus- 
trated lectures, the Academy might advan- 
tageously maintain exhibits freely open to 
the public, showing the current researches 
of its members, the most recent European 
advances in science, and new applications 
of scientific methods in the industries. It 
goes without saying that ample space and 
the best of facilities would be required for 
this purpose. If carefully worked out, this 
plan should provide an additional means 
of keeping the public informed of the 
progress of research and its bearing on the 
industries of the country. While emphasis 
should always be laid in such exhibits on 
pure science, which it is the Academy's ^^ 
prime object to advance, some of the most 
striking illustrations of the applications of 
science should also be introduced. 

It is obvious that the Academy can not 
undertake such activities unless it can ob- 
tain a large building of its own. The ad- 
vantages of having such a building for 
other purposes have already been touched 
upon. The attractiveness of the annual 
meetings would be greatly enhanced if 
133 



they were held in such surroundings as 
an Academy building could supply. 
There is a very real difference between the 
atmosphere of bare halls, casually occupied, 
and attractively furnished rooms, perma- 
nently belonging to the Academy, and 
charged with the stimulating traditions ac- 
cumulated during the process of time. 
The walls should be hung with portraits 
of past presidents and other eminent men 
of science, which could easily be obtained 
if there were a place for them. More- 
over, the example of the Royal Society in 
preserving Newton's telescope and of the 
Royal Institution in exhibiting the original 
instruments of Davy, Faraday and other 
great investigators, should be followed as 
soon as possible by the National Academy. 
Doubtless it is still feasible to secure in- 
struments used by Joseph Henry, the two 
Agassizs, and others who have played a 
similar part in the history of the Academy. 
A permanent committee, charged with the 
collection of portraits, manuscripts, and 
instruments, and exercising care and dis- 
crimination in its selections, would gradu- 
ally bring together many objects which 
134 



would become more and more valuable with 
the passage of time.^^ 

HISTORICAI. EXHIBITS 

A [Few writers on civilization in America 
appreciate how largely the United States 
has contributed to the development of cer- 
tain fields of research. The mathematical 

J memoirs of Gibbs were of fundamental 
importance, while in such fields as celestial 
mechanics, practical astronomy, astrophys- 
ics, experimental physics, geology and pale- 
ontology, and in many of the newer phases 
of biology and experimental medicine, Na- 
tional Academy members have led the way 
in a long series of advances. An exhibit of 
original instruments, manuscripts, and 
photographs, arranged so as to show the 
successive contributions of American in- 
vestigators in various departments of re- 
search, would prove an inspiration to many 
a young and enthusiastic aspirant to the 
pleasures of original discovery. I shall 

18 [A committee of this kind, wMch was ap- 
pointed in November, 1913, has already received 
from Mrs. Henry Draper valuable instruments and 
original negatives illustrating the pioneer re- 
searches in astrophysics of the late Henry Draper.] 
135 



never forget my own delight in first seeing 
some of Henry Draper's original negatives 
of stellar spectra. iMany of these are now 
in the possession of the Academy, ready 
for use in an exhibit of continuous progress 
in astronomical spectroscopy covering the 
whole history of the Academy: Ruther- 
furd's first successful diffraction gratings 
and large-scale photographs of the solar 
spectrum; Draper's spectra of stars and 
planets, the first to show the lines; Young's 
pioneer observations of the spectra of sun- 
spots and the chromosphere; Langley's 
bolometric investigations in the invisible 
region of the infra-red, and his measures of 
the solar constant of radiation; Pickering's 
extensive discoveries and classification of 
stellar spectra photographed with the objec- 
tive prism; Rowland's. invention of the con- 
cave grating, and his fundamental studies 
of solar and laboratory spectra; Michel- 
son's ingenious and varied contributions to 
the instruments of spectroscopy, compris- 
ing the interferometer, echelon and large 
grating, and his researches with them; 
Keeler's studies of celestial spectra, in- 
augurating the era of accurate radial 
velocity measurements; Campbell's per- 

136 



fection of the stellar spectrograph and the 
far-reaching results of his years of observa- 
tion. Each of these American investiga- 

: tors marked a distinct epoch in as trophy s- 
ical research, and their labors form a con- 
tinuous chain covering the entire life of 
their subject. It is still possible to obtain 
many of their original instruments and 
earliest photographs, and to exhibit them in 
an attractive manner. Who would not like 
to see an actual spectrum formed by Row- 
land's earliest grating? A touch of a 
button operating an arc light mounted be- 
fore the spectroscope slit, is all that would 
be necessary. And if this can be done in 
one field of research, there is no reason why 
similar stimulus can not be given in others, 
though of course in varying degree. If 

U many subjects can show any such series of 
advances as we have seen in astronomical 
spectroscopy, the pessimism shown by some 
writers regarding American research must 
surely give way to optimism. And no 
method of bringing the true state of affairs 
to easy comprehension, both to men of 
science and to the public, could equal that 
of the proposed exhibit. It goes without 
saying that the ingenious and attractive 

137 



devices of modem museums should be em- 
ployed, instead of the dry and forbidding 
exhibition methods of former times.] 

The committee on historical apparatus 
might also have charge of instruments be- 
longing to the various trust funds and no 
longer in use hy the persons to whom the 
original grants for their purchase were 
made. In the course of time such a col- 
lection would naturally grow to consider- 
able proportions, and the Academy would 
be enabled to assist its members by the loan 
of these instruments, as the Royal Society 
has done so effectively. The objection 
which is sometimes made to the purchase 
of standard instruments by the recipients 
of grants would thus be removed, as such 
instruments might prove of great service in 
a collection for general use. 

TENTATIVE DESIGN OF AN ACADEMY BUILDING 

[The design of an Academy building 
here reproduced^^ is intended merely as a 

19 [From preliminary sketches by the firm of 
Shepley, Eutan and Coolidge. Some of the desig- 
nations of rooms here employed should be modi- 
fied. The name ''conversazione room" for the 
large public hall comes from the annual conver- 
saziones of the Royal Society, where many instru- 
138 



basis for discussion. The large public ball 
into which the main entrance leads is for 
the proposed exhibit of current research, 
illustrating the latest advances in pure and 
applied science, both American and for- 
eign. The public would undoubtedly ap- 
preciate an opportunity to see under 
microscopes the most recently discovered 
bacilli, and to examine specimens illustrat- 
ing the experimental variation of plants or 
animals, photographs showing new as- 
tronomical discoveries, experimental dem- 
onstrations of physical phenomena like the 
recently found Stark effect (the influence of 
an electric field on radiation), the structure 
of crystals. X-ray spectra and their bearing 

ments and experimental exhibits are shown. The 
photographic room (not needed on this floor) 
should be used for council meetings, setting free 
the room allotted in the plan to the council for 
a members' ante-room, adjoining the meeting 
room. The meeting, lecture and exhibition halls 
are shown in Fig. 2 as extending up through the 
second floor, but the laboratories and other parts 
of the building would be divided into several 
stories of ordinary height. The laboratories may 
of course be devoted to any desired field of re- 
search, and the designations are merely intended * 
to suggest that one of these be in the physical and 
the other in the biological sciences.] 
139 




140 



on the constitution of the atom, etc. As 
the home of such an exhibit, and the place 
of publication of the Proceedings, announc- 
ing the current advances of American re- 
search, the Academy would soon be recog- 
nized in its true character as the natural 
center and promoter of the scientific work 
of the United States. 

In the adjoining room to the right the 
exhibit of historical research would con- 
nect the present with the past, and give a 
clear picture of American progress in the 
field of science. The possibilities of this 
exhibit have already been mentioned, 
but it may be remarked here that one 
of its prime purposes should be to stimulate 
further investigation and to aid in the 
Academy's work of correlating science by 

Q indicating converging lines of research. 
Both of these objects are of course perfectly 
compatible with the initial idea of com- 
memorating the labors of Academy 
members. 

The lecture hall at the rear of the build- 
ing completes the group of rooms open to 
the public. This should embody some of 

Q the features which make the lecture hall of 
the Royal Institution so attractive. The 

142 



provision of ample facilities for experi- 
mental demonstrations (including a well- 
equipped preparation room) which no 
large lecture hall in Washington contains 
at present, would add greatly to the means 
of interesting both men of science and the 
public. 

To the left of the central hall is the 
Academy meeting room, which might ad- 
vantageously combine various features 
found in European academies. One of the 
most attractive meeting rooms abroad is that 
of the Paris Academy of Sciences. The 
provision of a comfortable ante-room,^^ 
equipped like a club and providing abun- 
dant opportunity for conversation among 
members, would be a valuable addition. 
Instead of admitting visitors to the meet- 
ing-room they could be better accommo- 
dated in a second floor gallery, above the 
ante-room, similar to the visitors' gallery 
of the Amsterdam Academy. Finally, a 
modified seating arrangement (probably 
retaining the tables for officers and mem- 
bers) would permit the inclusion of a 
screen and experiment table at one end of 
the room. 

20 In the space here marked "Council Eoom. '' 
143 



iTlie main floor would also contain a 
council room,^^ and various offices, cloak 
rooms, serving rooms, apparatus rooms, 
etc., needed for use in connection with 
meetings, lectures, exhibits, public recep- 
tions and other functions. The offices of 
the secretaries, editorial rooms, library and 
reading rooms, private research rooms and 
other rooms not for public purposes would 
be on the floors above. The example of the 
Berlin Academy,^^ which provides numer- 
ous offices (45 in all) in its new building 
for the compilation of data required for 
a general catalogue of stars, bodies of 
Greek and Latin inscriptions, a great 
Egyptian dictionary, and other similar 
undertakings, might well be imitated here. 
For instance, it would have been of great 
advantage to the Academy if it had been 
able to furnish Professor Newcomb with 
offices for the computers employed in his 
extensive astronomical researches, during 
the active period which followed his retire- 
ment from the Nautical Almanac office. 

21 In the space liere marked *' Photograph 
Eoom. ' ' 

22 See ' '■ The Work of European Academies, * ' 
Science, November 14, 1913, p. 692. 

144 



Small study rooms for members staying in 
Washington, engaged in writing or research 
involving the use of the Academy library, 
would also be useful. 

The two wings shown to the right and 
left of the main building are intended for 
research laboratories. While the great 
majority of members seem to favor the in- 
clusion of such laboratories in the Acad- 
emy's scheme of development, there are a 
few who do not, and it is desirable to point 
out why they appear desirable. The 
Academy stands, first and foremost, for 
research, which it seeks to advance in every 
effective way. It may thus follow the 
example of various academies abroad, such 
as S.t. Petersburg, which carries on impor- 
tant researches in physics and other sub- 
jects; Stockholm, which has long provided 
in its own laboratories for the spectroscopic 
in\Kestigations of Hasselberg; and Berlin, 
which has produced the extensive investi- 
gations already enumerated. Nothing 
could do more to advance the Academy's 
influence on the progress of science than 
the production of important results from 
its own laboratories. But there is another 

145 



and even stronger argument in favor of 
their establishment. 

It has been well said by one who has 
studied the problems of the Academy, that 
the success of its future work must depend 
upon the discovery of men who are willing 
and able to devote the necessary time and 
energy to it. Two Academy members, in 
commenting on suggestions for a building, 
remark that not laboratories, but men are 
needed. Those who are familiar with the 
history of the Academy are aware of the 
great amount of unselfish effort which it 
owes to its officers and members. But the 
fact remains that a man's first allegiance is 
to the university or other institution which 
counts him on its staff. As long as he re- 
tains such connections he can devote only 
his spare time to the work of the Academy, 
which, nevertheless, demands his best 
efforts. 

The provision of research laboratories, 
with funds for their maintenance, would 
enable the Academy to command the entire 
time and effort of some of the ablest men 
in the country. The growing work, which 
already throws heavier burdens than the 
members realize on the willing shoulders of 
146 



the Home Secretary, may later demand 
(as in the Eoyal Society) the services of 
two men, one representing the mathematical 
and physical, the other the biological sci- 
ences. The only way to secure the tm- 
divided service of such men is to offer them 
adequate salaries, a suitable staff of assis- 
tants, and ample laboratory facilities. 
Thus, while carrying on their researches in 
the name of the Academy, they would be 
able to direct the extensive work which the 
exhibits of current and historical research, 
the publication of the Proceedings and 
other contemplated activities must involve. 
Their position would be much like that of 
Faraday at the Royal Institution, with 
added duties defined by the broader range 
of the Academy's field. 

An important object of the proposed re- 
search laboratories, therefore, is to attract 
and hold the men whose unrestricted time 
and energy the Academy urgently needs. 
Volunteer service will continue and multi- 
ply, but it can never hope to accomplish all 
that the future will require. 

No details of laboratory design need be 
discussed here. The use of the unit sys- 
tem of rooms, exemplified in the Harvard 
147 






Medical School, would eliminate many diffi- 
culties, and facilitate alterations to meet 
changing needs. A common plant of re- 
frigerating machinery, compression pumps, 
constant-temperature rooms and other re- 
quirements of both laboratories, could be 
placed on the ground floor of the main 
building, which would also contain rooms 
for storing reserve Academy publications 
and for other miscellaneous purposes. 

Enough has been said to indicate some of 
the possible uses of an Academy building, 
and the corresponding necessities of the 
design. The present plan, which is merely 
tentative, may serve to bring out criticisms 
and suggestions from members, who will 
undoubtedly think of many advantageous 
modifications. A classic treatment is indi- 
cated, but this is mainly because of the 
prevailing conditions in Washington, and 
the probability that a government site 
could not be obtained for a building of 
collegiate Gothic design, for example. 

It would be advantageous for the Acad- 
emy to appoint a strong committee, repre- 
senting all branches of science, to design 
a suitable building, i Much time and 
thought are necessary to secure a satis- 
148 



factory plan, which will provide for present 
needs, and be readily adaptable to future 
developments. As for funds, some time 
may be required to find the sum needed, 
but the opportunity is such an exceptional 
one that a willing donor is sure to appear 
in the future. The only way to obtain 
gifts for building or endowment is to have 
a scheme so promising, and plans so at- 
tractive as to convince a prospective in- 
vestor that his funds will be effectively 
used: Notable cases might be cited where 
large gifts followed the presentation of ef- 
fective building designs, which appealed 
not only to the eye, but equally to the judg- 
ment of the donor.] 

TRUST FUNDS 

The trust funds of the Academy, as 
shov/n in a previous article, have a total of 
over eighty thousand dollars, the income 
of which is exclusively devoted to research. 
In addition, there are other funds totaling 
over thirty-six thousand dollars, primarily 
intended for the endowment of medals and 
prizes, which enjoy a considerable surplus 
income also available for original investiga- 
tion. By these means the Academy has 
149 



been able to assist many of the most im- 
portant researches of American science. A 
closer connection between the various com- 
mittees, and the adoption of a concerted 
plan of action, would perhaps increase stiU 
further the usefulness of the funds. As a 
committee charged with the study of the 
use of trust funds has admirably expressed 
it: 

The Academy should take the initiative in the 
organization and conduct of research. It should 
not wait for applications or for suggestions to 
come in wholly from the outside. Such sugges- 
tions should be urged, but the Academy should 
not relegate itself to the function of a mere dis- 
bursing organization; it should seek rather to de- 
termine what projects are worthy of investiga- 
tion and how the funds may be most judiciously 
administered. 

Such a policy would seem to imply a 
careful examination on the part of each 
committee of the existing conditions and 
needs of research in its own field, and an 
endeavor, through cooperation with the 
other committees, to secure a well-balanced 
and thoroughly effective use of all Academy 
funds available for investigation. As 
already suggested, the gradual accumula- 
tion of instruments, returned on the com- 
150 



pletion of 'the work for whicli they were 
purchased, should ultimately result in a 
marked gain in the efficiency of the funds 
and in the Academy's ability to assist in- 
vestigators. 

[As a body which is rapidly becoming 
truly representative of the investigators of 
America, the National Academy is well 
qualified to act in an advisory capacity to 
other institutions having funds available 
for use in research. It frequently happens 
that trustees of funds thus applicable re- 
quire such expert advice as the Academy 
can give. A parallel case is that of the 
Royal Society, which selects annually the 
recipients of the Government Grant Fund 
of £4,000. 

MEDALS AND PRIZES 

In bestowing the Academy's gold medals 
for investigations in physics, astronomy, 
astrophysics, oceanography and the study 
of meteoric bodies, an attempt should be 
made, not only to recognize and reward 
successful investigators, but to do this in 
accordance with the best interests of future 
research. A few of the numerous medals 
awarded by academies, such as the Copley 

151 



Medal of tlie Royal Society, may be ad- 
vantageously reserved as a fitting recogni- 
tion of many years of eminent service to 
science. But, as Diels^^ has justly re- 
marked, the majority of medals and prizes 
wiU prove of greater value if given to com- 
paratively young men, who still need sup- 
port and encouragement. By acquaintance 
with the circumstances under which such 
men are working, an award may be made 
at a moment so favorable as to increase its 
yalue many fold. Thus recognition by the 
Academy may supply the precise argument 
needed to convince university authorities 
or others in control of research funds of 
the importance of providing the means 
necessary to continue and extend the work 
of the medallist. The same may be said 
of grants from trust funds. ,Oases are 
known in which a comparatively small 
grant has favorably influenced a board of 
trustees in deciding to devote large sums 
to research. 

This leads to a consideration of the ques- 
tion of membership in the National Acad- 
emy. In his valuable discussion of the 

23 ''Die Kultur der Gegenwart/' Teil I., Ab- 
teilung I., zweite Auflage, p. 666. 
152 



organization of science, to which reference 
has already been made, Professor Diels 
lays great emphasis upon the importance 
of aiding and encouraging the younger men 
of science through the award of grants for 
investigation. That this feeling is general 
throughout the German academies is shown 
by the fact that approximately one half of 
their resources are used for this purpose. 
Diels also finds cause for congratulation in 
the fact that the papers of these non-acade- 
micians, published in the proceedings, 
often prove to be the most brilliant of Ger- 
many's contributions to science, and at the 
same time greatly aid in enlivening the 
work of the Academies.^* 

Nothing could point more clearly to the 
best field of usefulness of our own Na- 
tional Academy. As the future of re- 
search depends directly upon the younger 
men, the Academy may properly devote a 
large share of its efforts to their support 
and advancement. But moral encourage- 
ment is no less important than financial 
aid. The latter may well be given from 
the trust funds of the Academy, but the 

24 Diels, ihid., p. 665. 

153 



former should not be neglected. The 
Academy does grant medals, but these are 
available in only a few fields of research.^^ 
Fortunately it also possesses a still more 
powerful resource in its opportunity to be- 
stow all the advantages and privileges of 
actual membership. 

MEMBERSHIP 

}The great European academies differ 
among themselves in many particulars, 
most of all as regards membership. At 
one extreme we find the St. Petersburg 
Academy, with a president, a director and 
fifteen members, who are paid good salaries 
and provided with dwelling houses and 
laboratory facilities. At the other ex- 
treme stands the Royal Society, with 477 
members, who receive no salaries or other 
tangible benefits. The other leading 
academies, such as Berlin, Paris, Rome and 
Vienna, lie between these limits.^^ 

25 An attempt should be made to secure medals 
(or preferably money prizes available for the 
purchase of books or instruments) for mathe- 
matics, engineering, chemistry, geology, and the 
various branches of biology. 

26 See ''The Work of European Academies, '* 
Science, 38, 686 et seq., 1913. 

154 



The large membersMp of the Royal So- 
ciety probably reflects, in some degree, the 
strongly democratic tendencies of England. 
But the working body of scientific investi- 
gators is sufficiently large to prevent the 
distinction of election to this venerable so- 
ciety from being impaired. In fact, on ac- 
count of the great pains taken by the 
Council to inquire into the qualifications of 
the fifteen Fellows elected annually, the 

) significance of the coveted title of F.R.S. 
is perhaps even greater to-day than at any 
earlier period in the history of the Society. 
It can hardly be doubted that investiga- 
tors of real ability are quite as numerous 
in the United States as in England. The 
available statistics indeed indicate that a 
much greater number of meii are engaged 
here in research. The conditions are thus 
very different from those existing in 1863, 
when the National Academy was founded, 
with 50 members as its limiting number. 
Since 1906, when the maximum number of 
members elected annually was increased 
from &ve to ten, there has been a very per- 
ceptible change in the spirit of the Acad- 
emy. By taking in a larger proportion of 
the younger men actively engaged in re- 

155 



search, tlie Academy has increased its con- 
tact with living issues, and made itself more 
truly representative of American science. 
For the present, the election of ten new 
members annually may suffice,^but I believe 
that the time will soon come when the limit 
should be raised from ten to fifteen. 

It can not be gainsaid that a large num- 
ber of able American investigators, who in 
England would certainly be elected to 
membership in .the Royal Society, are still 
outside of our National Academy. The 
reason for this lies partly in the limit im- 
posed on membership, and partly in the 
method of nomination, which seems to me 
susceptible of improvement. One difficulty, 
which will certainly increase in the future, 
has come about through the development of 
new fields of research. A man classed as a 
mathematician or an astronomer, both of 
which subjects are well represented in the 
Academy, is sure to receive consideration 
when nominations are being made. But if 
his subject be a comparatively new one, not 
represented among the nominating sections 
included in the existing classification of the 
Academy, his claims to recognition will be 
much less likely to command due attention. 

156 



The constitution provides that the Council 
may nominate new members, hut this 
privilege is exercised only in rare cases, and 
in any event there are certain disadvan- 
tages in this procedure, il trust that some 
means can be found of improving the 
system of nominations so as to overcome 
this difficulty, which now deprives the 
Academy of valuable members.^^ 

As for the qualifications of membership, 
it can hardly be doubted that the original 
plan of basing selections solely on the ori- 
ginal contributions to science of the candi- 
dates should always be maintained. While 
it is true that eminent administrators and 
others who exercise large influence in the 
intellectual world might prove to be of 
great service as members of the Academy, 
a wide departure from this fundamental 
principle would soon detract from the 
standing of the Academy as the national 
representative of original research. Thus 
while eminent services to the public should 
by no means be excluded from the field of 
the Academy's interests, and may well be 
recognized by the award of special medals 
founded for this purpose, actual member- 

27 [A committee is now at work on tMs subject.] 
157 



sMp should be confined to original investi- 
gators. 

SCOPE OF THE ACADEMY 

Here we may inquire as to the true 
scope of the Academy's work. In what de- 
gree should it confine its choice of members 
to the physical and natural sciences, and 
in what measure may it recognize success- 
ful research in such fields as philosophy, 
archeology, political economy, and history ? 
The answer to this question will depend in 
part upon one's opinion of the chief object 
of the Academy. There are those who feel 
that the most important function of the 
National Academy is to confer distinction 
by election to membership. If this were 
its prime object, the participation of the 
members in the work of the Academy would 
be a minor matter, and any one of sufficient 
reputation as an investigator might be 
chosen. But if we agree, as I think the 
large majority will, that the Academy 
should be looked upon as a working body, 
and that its privilege of conferring dis- 
tinction by election to membership is only 
one of many important functions, it seems 
to me that a means of defining our choice 

158 



of investigators in the humanities may 
easily he found. 

A single philologist, or a single political 
economist, may find but little of interest to 
himself in the proceedings of a body made 
up almost exclusively of representatives of 
the physical and natural sciences. If so, 
he may not attend the meetings, and his 
membership would then serve merely as a 
mark of distinction. Deferring for a mo- 
ment the discussion of the broad question 
whether the Academy should ever be re- 
organized in two or more large classes, 
after the manner of the Berlin Academy, it 
seems to me that we should augment the 
value of election by furnishing real reason 
to every member for participation in the 
work of the Academy. For example, in its 
committee on anthropology and psychology 
the National Academy now has three mem- 
bers engaged in the study of archeological 
problems. Although their work relates 
primarily to American ethnology, it differs 
in no essential respect from that of the 
classical archeologist or the student of 
Egyptology or Assyriology. Would it not 
be advisable, therefore, when the Academy 
chooses its next member from outside the 

159 



domain of the physical and natural sci- 
ences, to elect an archeologist from one of 
these fields ? If this were done he might be 
expected to take a more active interest in 
the work of the Academy, which would 
benefit by his contributions to its proceed- 
ings.2^ 

The advantages which might result from 
a wider extension of the scope of the Na- 
tional Academy raise the question whether 
an organization resembling that of the 
Berlin Academy will ever become desirable. 
This problem was long and seriously dis- 
cussed by the Royal Society, and the nega- 
tive decision of its deliberations led to the 
establishment of the British Academy. In 
spite of this decision, some of its leading 
FeUows still believe that the Royal Society 
should have made room for a larger body 
of philosophers, historians and philologists 
than it now contains. Both the Royal So- 
ciety and the National Academy have 
wisely refused to limit their membership 

28 William Dwiglit Wliitney and William James 
resigned from the Academy, probably because 
they were the sole representatives of their sub- 
jects. 

160 



to the physical and natural sciences. Such 
historians as Bryce and Morley and such 
Egyptologists as Petrie are now counted 
among the Fellows of the Royal Society, 
and Weld states that 116 archeological 
papers were published in the Philosophical 
Transactions before 1848.2^ But the large 
proportion of Fellows concerned with the 
physical and natural sciences, and the 
failure of the Society to recognize the 
philosophical-historical group in its or- 
ganization, has prevented the Royal Society 
from taking part in the Section of Letters 
of the International Association of Acade- 
mies, where the British Academy now rep- 
resents England. 

The National Academy, as a member of 
the Section of Science of the International 
Association, is in a position to secure ade- 
quate representation in foreign affairs of 
American interests in the natural sciences. 
The United States are also entitled to rep- 
resentation in the Section of Letters, but 
the present organization of the National 
Academy and the absence of a national 

29 ''History of the Itoyal Society, '^ Vol. 2, p. 
565. 

161 



body similar to the British Academy, ^^ still 
leaves a vacancy there. 

In my opinion it would not be advisable, 
under present conditions, to reorganize the 
National Academy on the model of the 
Berlin Academy. But I am heartily in 
sympathy with the idea of widening its 
scope and its field of interests, in some such 
way as that indicated above. This plan 
would permit the Academy to honor able 
investigators outside of the physical and 
natural sciences, and at the same time 
gradually to build up small groups of these 
members who would aid the Academy in 
the development of its work. Ultimately 
the Academy might extend this phase of 
its activities sufficiently to secure repre- 
sentation in the Section of Letters of the 
International Association of Academies. 

LOCAL ACADEMIES 

A subject to which I have devoted spe- 
cial attention in the study of the problems 
of the National Academy, is its relation- 
ship to the various local academies which 
are widely distributed over the United 

30 The National Institute of Arts and Letters 
occupies a different field. 
162 



States. These societies are of the greatest 
importance in the further development of 
American research, and the cultivation of 
an intelligent interest in the problems of 
science. Some of them have grown to such 
large proportions and established such ex- 
cellent organizations that they need no 
assistance or encouragement from the Na- 
tional Academy. But after these excep- 
tional societies have been excluded, there 
remain a great number of others, which the 
National Academy ought to be in a position 
to assist in various ways. 

In an early period of its history, the 
Paris Academy of Sciences established close 
official relations with certain provincial 
academies in various parts of France. In 
fact, the Society of M€)ntpellier is described 
in its royal letters patent as '*an extension 
and a part ' ' of the Paris Academy of Sci- 
ences.^^ But a general plan of federation 
between the provincial academies and the 
Institute of France, such as that described 
by Bouillier in the work just cited, has 
never been carried into effect, and the old 
official relations have been discontinued. 

31 Bouillier, ' * L 'Institut et les Academies de 
Province/' p. 70. 

163 



After careful consideration of Bouillier's 
plan, I doubt whether it could be advan- 
tageously applied in the United States 
under existing conditions. 

This conclusion, however, does not mean 
that the National Academy can not be of 
service to local organizations. I believe, 
on the contrary, that it might find many 
ways and means of aiding them. The 
prime object is to secure a high standard of 
accomplishment among the minor academies 
remote from the chief centers of research, 
and to give the encouragement which the 
production of good work under unfavor- 
able conditions so richly deserves. It 
should be possible to discover methods of 
realizing these ends, and thus to contribute 
to the strength and standing of the local 
academies and the progress of American 
research. 

[It will be noticed that comparatively 
little attention has been given in this paper 
to the relationship of the Academy to the 
national government. This is due to no 
underestimate of the importance of the 
connection, but rather to the strong desire 
that this chief implication of the Acad- 
emy's charter should ultimately be realized 
164 



in the fullest sense. Valuable suggestions 
for cooperation with various departments 
of the government have been made by 
Academy members, and every effort should 
be exerted to carry them into effect. But 
recent experience indicates that the most 
promising way to accomplish this lies in 
first developing the standing and prestige 
of the Academy. When it becomes more 
widely and favorably known for its con- 
tributions to scientific progress, and is 
universally recognized as the national and 
authoritative representative of American 
science, the Academy's influence with Con- 
gress and with the various officers of the 
government will be far more potent than at 
present. I therefore believe that no effort 
should be made to press a demand for 
greater governmental recognition until the 
publication of the Proceedings and other 
new activities have had time to produce 
their anticipated effect.] 

In summarizing the suggestions offered 
in this paper, we see that many of the new 
activities proposed for the National Acad- 
emy can not be undertaken without a suit- 
able building. If this can be obtained, 

165 



and adequately endowed, the Academy will 
be able greatly to extend its influence aad 
usefulness both, at home and abroad, 
through original researches, increased serv- 
ice to members, public lectures and ex- 
hibits, and greater cooperation in inter- 
national projects. Under present condi- 
tions, the International Association of 
Academies could hardly be invited to meet 
in Washington. But if established in a 
home of its own, the Academy might ulti- 
mately succeed the Royal Society and the 
Academies of Paris, Rome, St. Petersburg 
and Berlin as the leading Academy of the 
Association for a period of three years. In 
this position it could contribute in a more 
effective way to the furtherance of inter- 
national science, and to the study of the 
great problems of cooperative research, 
which offer large possibilities of extension 
and development. ^2 

The one way to secure a building and en- 
dowment is to prove by continual increase 
of efficiency that the Academy can use them 
to advantage. The establishment of Pro- 
ceedings, the institution of lecture courses, 

32 1 hope to discuss the international relations 
of the Academy in a future article. 
166 



the encouragement of broader methods of 
science teaching, and closer identification 
with the general interests of science as 
represented in all movements for the pro- 
motion of research and the diffusion of sci- 
entific knowledge, are opportunities open 
to immediate realization, and deserving of 
the most careful consideration by the 
Academy. 
Mount "Wilson 
Solar Observatory 



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